Game On
by Just another stupid guy
Summary: An orphan gets adopted by the managers of the biggest virtual reality game in the world, Creation. What could go wrong by playing a harmless game? Can he balance school, family and Creation? What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**HEY GUYS AND GIRLS. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL STORY THAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON BASED ON A FEW MOVIES I'VE REWATCHED RECENTLY. I THOUGHT I MIGHT TRY MY HAND AT SOMETHING OTHER THAN FANFIC FOR A WHILE SO I APOLOGISE TO MY FANS OF MY SHIKASAKU FANFIC FOR NOT POSTING RECENTLY BUT I HOPE THAT THEY DON'T HATE ME FOR IT. ANYWAY, I HOPE THIS STORY ISN'T TOO BAD AND MAKES UP FOR IT. I APOLOGISE FOR MISTAKES AND GRAMMAR AS USUAL (I CAN'T ESCAPE THAT EVEN IF IT IS MY OWN STORY, I GUESS IT'S ACTUALLY WORSE WHEN IT'S MY OWN STORY).****HAPPY READING:)**

"Yo J, get your head out of your ass and get the crown already!" Stephanie shouted across the open battlefield as she sprinted towards the sea of angry green goblins. I focused my attention on the situation I found myself in then began planning my next moves. I saw the elegant crown that Stephanie was referring to firmly planted on the head of the Queen of the goblins who was thoroughly protected by her army of goblins. I already knew what Stephanie was planning on doing even if we didn't plan this and I knew what she expected me to do. I accessed my inventory then saw the perfect item to use.

"Blinding star!" I shouted so that Stephanie could prepare for it. I waited until she reached the first goblin before I activated the item. It immediately sent a blindly bright light into the air that rendered everyone who looked at it blind for 30 seconds. Just enough time for us to finish the mission.

I ran as fast as I could around the goblin army while Stephanie easily sliced her way through the blinded goblin army. I saw that some of the stronger goblins were already regaining their sight so I knew I had to execute my plan now.

"Steal." I commanded as my ability activated and I immediately directed it at the crown on the Queen's head. My 'Steal' ability allowed me to take an item from any place or player without having to physically take it from them but it had a maximum distance of 50 meters, until I level up at least. The Queen's crown suddenly found itself in my hands so I immediately stopped running.

"S, I have it!" I informed her. Now for the part I hated most. "Item switch." I commanded. That ability allowed me to switch an item I control with another item another player controlled. Right now I was going to use that ability to switch the crown in my hands with the dagger in Stephanie's hand. It worked so I immediately turned around and started running in the opposite direction like my life depended on it. I could hear the Queen's angry cry when she realized that I stole her crown and I could see the army of goblins chasing after me now. I couldn't see Stephanie any more which meant that she had successfully activated her 'Chameleon' ability. It allowed her to blend in with her surroundings perfectly. I immediately opened my inventory and took out one of my favorite items and one of the worst items but the two surprisingly made a good combination; Orb of Protection and the Chain Bomb.

I threw the bomb to the nearest goblin then immediately activated the Orb of Protection. The Chain Bomb is a type of bomb that is perfect for a mindless army such as these goblins. It would latch itself to one goblin then it would have three seconds to link to another goblin. It would do so for as long as possible until it couldn't latch on to another target in time then every goblin affected by the bomb would blow up. That's where the Orb of Protection came in; it creates a five minute impenetrable barrier that would protect me from the goblins and from when they inevitably blow up. I fell to the ground and panted once the see through blue barrier firmly surrounded me.

"Are you in the barrier already?" Stephanie asked me over our communicators.

"Yeah. Have I told you how much I hate this plan?"

"Every single time we do it."

"Just finish up already. The Chain Bomb is busy linking the weaker goblins right now so go take out the Queen and her guards."

"You're stuck in the barrier for five minutes which means that I have five minutes to carry out my plan so stop your damn whining already."

"You're an assassin so you should be able to kill all your targets in less than a minute."

"Sometimes I like to have fun and drag it out you know."

"Just don't die on me. See you in five minutes."

I was stuck in the barrier for five minutes like Stephanie said. I guess I should explain a few things before we continue. Firstly, right now we were in a game, not physically obviously but our minds were. Our bodies were laid out somewhere, mine was on my bed in my room. We were connected to a machine that allowed our minds to enter a game and control an avatar that looked more or less like we did, with a few adjustments, which revolutionized the world. A game that was ultimately called Creation. The machine that allowed our minds to enter the game was commonly known as Link. I forgot what the full name for it was but everyone just called it Link since it was simple and easier to say.

Secondly, this game was like no other game ever created. It took the creators 20 years to make it. This game allowed you to be whatever you want to be. When I say anything, I literally mean anything. The only downside was that you can't change how you looked that much which is why I acquired a magical helmet allowed me to put it on an everyone would see a headless helmet with only two blue lights inside it. Stephanie covered her face with a magical scarf which increased her vision and it raised her defense a little. Many people covered their faces but the majority didn't.

Like I said previously, you could be anything you wanted to be. You could be a humble merchant, bar owner, baker, chef, librarian, artist or even stripper if you wanted to be. On the other side, if you liked adventure then you had to choose a which type of adventurer you wanted to be but you couldn't change it after you have chosen it. Most people chose to be a Knight, Arch Wizard, Arch Priest, Magician or Assassin. You were able to choose two of the categories but they would limit the skills you were able to obtain in each category based on your choices. Stephanie chose Assassin and Magician which was of the top choices for adventurers. I would've chosen it as well if I didn't lose a bet to Stephanie which meant that she would get to choose one of my categories. I ended up choosing Thief (Stephanie's choice, not mine) and Arch Wizard.

"You're spacing out again." Stephanie's voice snapped me back to reality. I saw that she was standing outside the barrier which was now flashing red signaling that the barrier would come down soon.

"Did you kill the goblins?" I asked as I stood up and dusted myself off then straightened my clothes.

"Yep. The bomb killed most of them so I couldn't increase my experience by a lot."

"We're already strong enough. I'm level 46 and you're level 49. That's stronger than everyone else in our little guild."

"Hey, we might be little now but we have two rings so at the end of the season in 4 months we will have players begging to join us. This season's competition is going to make us famous."

The competition Stephanie was referring to was an annual event that lasts exactly one year. This year the competition rules stated that the guild or player with the most rings would win a huge cash bonus and a divine item. The cash bonus alone was enough to make people interested in the competition but a divine item was extra incentive for the adventurers. A divine item was the rarest items in the game and each divine item granted the user a special ability. From what everyone knows, there has only been two divine items that have been discovered. One guild won the Heavenly Helmet in last year's competition. The helmet apparently allowed the user to see their opponents attacks before it happened. A player known as Iron Legend defeated one of the legendary creatures of the game, The Minotaur King, and received the Cape of Swiftness. The cape maxed out his speed statistic which made him faster than any other player in the game. No one knows what the divine item was that was up for grabs in this year's competition but everyone wanted the advantage and if I'm being totally honest, I wanted it too.

Anyway, there was only one way to win the competition and that meant getting the most rings but because the creators of the game are maniacal bastards, they only put 10 rings in the game. To put this in perspective, let's do some math. There are only 8 billion people in the world and right now 3 billion of them are playing this game and that number grows every single day. If only half of the 3 billion are adventurers then that still leaves 1,5 billion people that are doing quests. If only half of those are looking for rings then that means that 750 million players are hunting down 10 rings. The chances of you finding a ring was as likely as winning the lottery but like Stephanie said, we have 2 rings. How we got them wasn't important right now.

"Don't count on it. Remember the last part of the rules."

I was referring to the part that said, 'During the last 24 hours of the competition, each ring would send a beam into the sky until the competition ends.' Yet another reason why the creators were maniacal bastards. One thing I can't deny is that they really have a knack for creating drama during the competition.

"So? All we have to do is find a desert or ocean to hide in for that 24 hours then we'll be safe."

"Like it will be that easy." I said as the barrier finally came down.

"Put this in your unlimited inventory and I will be taking my dagger back."

"Just when it was beginning to grow on me." I jokingly replied as she handed me the crown and I handed her the dagger back. I immediately put the orb and the crown in my inventory and took out two teleporting stones.

"Wow, you really are like a merchant. Your inventory is just an endless box of mysteries."

"One of the few perks of being a thief, the endless inventory."

"Still bitter about me choosing a thief for you I see. You should just move on. It happened over a year ago."

"And I have to live with it everyday, not you."

"Yeah yeah. You know you love me." She replied as she hooked her arm around mine. "And besides, when school starts tomorrow then I will help you find the perfect girl for you this year."

"Like Rebecca who you just had to force me to meet?" Rebecca was my ex girlfriend that Stephanie had set me up with. Stephanie had good intentions at heart but she was the worst judge of character. She wasn't trusting to say the least, a trait we both shared, but a person's first impression for her seemed like all she needed. Sometimes I just wanted to shake her until she could see past the nice person on the outside and see the demon living within.

"I'll admit, Rebecca wasn't such a great idea."

"You think." My annoyance couldn't have been more evident. "Let's just get back to town and out of this open dry land. This game is irritatingly stupid at times."

"Come on, you know you like playing it." Stephanie told as she activated our teleporting stones.

"Answer me this then: where's the logic in putting an army of goblins in open dry land and having players try to get the crown off the queen's head?" I asked as a portal appeared in front of us.

"This game isn't about logic. It's about having fun so have fun for a change." Maybe Stephanie was right. I was always in a foul mood when I played the game but that was mainly because of the limitations to my abilities. Because I was a Thief, there were only 5 offense Arch Wizard spells that I could learn with my level right now and levelling up was the most difficult part for me. There were many defensive spells I could learn but the amount of magical energy it took wasn't worth it. The only other thing that I could do with my Arch Wizard abilities was to summon violent and terrifying creatures but every time I did that then they would end up attacking me as well after they destroyed the enemy.

"it's have to get back to the real world in a couple of minutes anyway. Might as well try to enjoy it." We stepped through the portal and ended up in the middle of the town named Strate then began making our way towards our guild. It was a small town with not a lot of players but we liked it here and we formed our guild here. Stephanie was the leader and I was seen as more of her advisor than anything else.

"Your mom still making you guys have dinner together at 7 every night?"

"They've been doing it since before I arrived. I like this family though."

Let me fill you guys in on something else: my brother, sisters and I are all orphans who were adopted by Mr and Mrs. Claire. They were two regional managers of the Creation and they were both focused on their careers for most of their lives but when they decided they wanted to start a family, they found out that they couldn't Mrs. Claire couldn't bear any children. They then decided to turn to adoption and ten years ago they adopted the four of us.

"I'm glad they chose to adopt you. Otherwise I would have to find some other idiot to terrorize." She said as she gave me a light push.

"One of these days you're going to have to be careful when you push me. Your strength statistic is rocketing."

"Even without my strength, I can still kick your ass."

"Stop dreaming." I replied as we stopped in front of the small brick faced building with long iron doors. Our guild was basically a small congregation of players since there were only 11 of us in total but we helped each other where we could. We entered the building and saw five of our members standing around the noticed board that had all the group missions flashing on it.

"Hey guys." Stephanie happily greeted them.

"Stella, how was your mission?" A younger girl who went by the name of Princess P asked Stephanie. In the game Stephanie named her avatar Stella and I named mine Junkyard. Princess P definitely lived up to her alias since she chose to be an Arch Priest and Arch Wizard and refused to involve herself in any physical fighting. She was good to have on missions since she could provide both long range attacks and long range healing capabilities to those fighting the battle.

"Successful. We got the crown of the Queen Goblin." Stephanie loved bragging about her accomplishments in the game but I didn't mind. As long as they questioned her and left me alone, I didn't really care.

"Was it only the two of you?" Princess P asked us.

"Yep. An army wasn't going to stop us from getting the crown." Yep, Stephanie's ego and her confidence seemed to be inflated in the game.

"What are you guys looking at on the board?" I asked her as I noticed the guys still glued to it.

"A mission to go to the Cave of Gloom popped up. Apparently there are secret chests inside the cave. Lots of other players have already gone so they must've cleared out the cave of all the dangerous creatures so we're going to head to it and see if we can find any other treasures." Princess P explained.

"You guys want to join us?" Rabid Pete asked Stephanie and I. Pete looked like he was as old as Stephanie and I but her wore bulky armor and a massive enchanted wooden shield. That shield was his trump card in every battle and it suited him perfectly.

"I have to log out soon so I can't go with unfortunately." I replied.

"I guess I'll join you guys. I have nothing better to do." Stephanie accepted their invitation and I could see their happiness spike when she agreed. They definitely loved her more than me which is probably as it should be. No one loved thieves anyway.

"Let's go complete our mission first." I reminded Stephanie then began making my way towards the counter at the end of the building. There were three nicely cut wooden tables with matching wooden benches on both sides of each table on either side of me as I walked towards the counter. I heard Stephanie following silently behind me.

"Good evening players." The lady behind the counter greeted us. She was the guild master who was assigned to our guild. Every guild had one and any player could use any guild master even if that player did not necessarily belong to that particular guild but everyone tried to respect each other's boundaries and use their own guild's guild master.

"Good evening." I replied as I took the crown out of my inventory then handed it to the guild master. "Party mission: Retrieve the Crown, completed."

"Congratulations. Your rewards are the Gems of Regeneration. Be sure to enchant that onto your armor in order to receive the best results." The guild master instructed us then disappeared.

"Sweet. I've been needing one of these. Now I can fight without having to worry about my health too much." Stephanie celebrated.

"Just don't forget to be aware of your surroundings at all times and absolutely no dying." I told her as I put my gem in my inventory.

"Yes daddy." She rolled her eyes at me as I began laughing.

"Do you need anything for the mission?" I asked her.

"Please let P use the Emperors Staff. She's stronger now and she has more control over her abilities." Stephanie begged me. The Emperors Staff was a weapon I received on a mission a couple of months ago and I was planning on using it but then I came across a better weapon so the staff was just lying in my inventory. I had a rule that I always followed; if I can use it then I'm going to keep it but if I can't use it then I give it to someone who can. It's not that I couldn't use the staff but I didn't have any need for it anymore but I certainly wasn't going to tell Stephanie that.

"Fine but if she dies then don't blame me." I replied as I took the elegant weapon out of my inventory. "But in exchange, I am going to borrow your books during the year so that I can get the notes."

"You already do that without my permission might I add."

"Well now I have your permission." I handed the staff to her as we smiled. I immediately went closer to her then gently hugged her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." With that I logged out of the game and woke up in the real world again. My room wasn't anything special. A bed in one corner, a large window covered by blinds, floor to ceiling cupboards covering one section of the wall, a desk by the windows where my laptop was resting on, small shelves next to the desk where I placed my schoolbooks and reading books; all in all a normal bedroom. My siblings on the other hand had more exotic tastes and their bedrooms were basically like their own personal houses. They offered to add some 'life' to my 'dull' room but I liked that I was different from them.

"Stephanie is right, you really do zone out a lot." My oldest sister, Bianca, said as she stood in the doorway of my room. She was a little smaller than me with pitch black hair and a slender build but she was wildly popular with the boys at school. She was going to be a senior this year and I could see that she was going to enjoy every moment of torturing the rest of us at school but we loved each other. Even if we weren't family by blood, we were family at heart.

"I'm just getting my bearings after coming out of the game." I explained then slowly stood up and stretched. "Did you need anything from me?"

"Just came to come fetch you for dinner. You know mom hates it when we're late." That was true. We had many rules in this house which we ended up breaking most of the time but the most important rule that our mother stressed above all else was never be late for dinner.

"You've got to admit though, dinner is nothing if not entertaining." I said as we exited my room. I closed it then joined my sister's side as we made our way down the hall to the staircase then down to the dining room where our mother and father were already seated at the heads of the table.

"Good evening mother and father." Bianca and I greeted them before taking our seats on one side of the table. Our father nodded in acknowledgement as usual. He wasn't really a talker but when it came to Creation then he was the expert and he wouldn't stop talking then.

"Good evening you two. Where is your brother and sister?" Mother asked.

"I sent Alice to fetch Morgan so they should be down any minute." Bianca answered her.

"They still have a few minutes though but let's see if they can make it down in time." I jokingly added.

"They know the rules." Mother stated.

"The two of them alone have broken those rules over and over again. I'm beginning to think they don't really care about it unfortunately." I wasn't trying to cause any trouble for the two of them so I hoped that I didn't unintentionally start something that might divide us.

"You don't seem to follow the rules as well." Bianca reminded me.

"True. I probably should start learning to put the toilet seat down when I'm done." That earned a smile from our parents but also earned Bianca to hit the back of my head. "Come on Bianca, you walked into that one."

"Well you knew what would follow." She replied as we heard our siblings coming down the stairs.

"Hey guys." Alice greeted us. She wasn't all that fond of politeness or elegance and neither was Morgan for that matter but they knew where to draw the line when it came to us. All families fight and we were no different but we always respected each other no matter what.

"Well, we're all here now so let's get dinner started." Mother said as she motioned to a servant standing by the door leading to the kitchen. If I hadn't mentioned it yet, our parents were kind of rich. Creation was a billion dollar game right now and it was increasing it's wealth everyday and our parents controlled the game in our region so they were paid handsomely for their service.

"So, how has everyone's day been?"

"Mine was amazing. I just got the enchanted sword; Tyrant." Morgan happily informed us. He loved playing the game and he was the strongest out of the four of us. He was level 62.

"I'm pretty sure your attacking abilities have maxed out already." Bianca replied. She was like me; didn't really like it but didn't really hate it either. She was level 57.

"That's the only statistic I care about." Morgan proudly stated.

"Anyway, my day was pretty awesome as well. I went to Abby's and hung out with my friends in the real world unlike my siblings who live in the game." Alice really didn't like playing the game all that much. She had an account and avatar that was level 24 but she hardly played the game.

"We don't live in the game. We just like playing it more than dealing with people in the real world. People in the real world suck. At least in the game you can kill them and you won't physically get sent to jail." Morgan did have a point there. The game had rules about players killing other players. You were only allowed to attack someone outside a town and outside a place of residence. If you broke that rule then your avatar would be taken and disposed of by the regional managers of the game which for us was our parents.

"You really are one of the most ruthless players in the game." Bianca told him.

"Thank you dear sister." Morgan said with an amusing smile on his face.

"How was your day Bianca?" Mother asked her.

"Pretty much a regular Sunday afternoon. I played Creation earlier and defeated Geoffrey The Swamp King with a party from my guild so that was kinda cool." Bianca answered her.

"Congratulations." I replied as I held up my fist and she immediately fist bumped me.

"The Swamp King is old news. I've killed him a couple of times already." Morgan didn't have any problem bragging and he loved to rub his successes in our faces.

"You only benefit from killing him once. It's pointless doing it again." I pointed out.

"Pointless but fun as hell." Morgan replied with his a grin that made me want to tear his face off his skull. Morgan and I never really got along with each other. We never did but we always stood up for each other and protected each other when we needed to.

"You really are sadistical brother." I told him as I sighed. "My day was pretty uneventful as well. Woke up, did some reading, played Creation, the end."

"And what exactly did you and sweet Stephanie do in the game?" Morgan asked me. I knew that he had a soft spot for her and he probably truly liked her but I didn't trust him with her. He knew it, I knew it, our sisters knew it and even our parents knew it. Morgan always got what he wanted and I knew that I could too but Stephanie was my best friend and she wasn't something that Morgan could get which probably irritated the hell out of him.

"Stephanie and I did the mission to steal the Goblin Queen's crown." I answered him.

"The perfect mission for a thief." Morgan was definitely taking a shot at me but I didn't care. We were brothers and we were family above all else so I relished in that fact.

"The perfect mission indeed." I agreed as a servant entered the room pushing a trolley with our dinner. He put a plate of food in front of everyone then left the room as quietly as he entered it.

"Dinner is served everyone." Mother announced and we immediately accepted her invitation then began eating our dinner.

"How was your day mother?" Alice asked her.

"Mine was great. Nothing too troublesome at the office so your dad and I had a relatively calm day." Mother answered.

"The calm before the storm tomorrow I suppose. The game is getting a major upgrade tonight from what I heard." I stated. "Any clues as to what the upgrade really is father?"

"Your mother and I can't tell you anything from the game that you can't find out on your own so you know we can't give you any clues as you put it." Father told me. "Your Links will be upgraded while you are at school tomorrow so you will be able to play the upgrade when you return home in the afternoon."

"Why does school have to start tomorrow?" Morgan complained. He didn't really like school all that much. He was extremely rebellious towards it but our parents made sure that he attended all his classes somehow.

"All play and no work makes Morgan a less intelligent being." Bianca stated.

"So you mean to tell us that he actually has intelligence to begin with?" I jokingly asked Bianca causing everyone to laugh except Morgan.

"I'm going to get you guys back for that one." Morgan threatened us.

"Come on Morgan, you deserved that one." Alice said as she tried to hide her amusement. Like I said before, dinner was nothing if not entertaining.


	2. Chapter 2

**HEY GUYS AND GIRLS, I'M GOING TO POST A FEW CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY THAT I TYPED SO FAR SO FEEL FREE TO REVIEW. IT'S ONE OF MY FIRST ORGINAL WORKS THAT I AM PUBLISHING SO FEEL FREE TO CRITICISE ME BECAUSE ANYTHING WILL HELP ME I GUESS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE STORY.****HAPPY READING:)**

"You guys have school in the morning so don't stay up too late." Our mother warned us as we left the lounge that evening. After dinner we liked to spend some time just sitting and talking about random things in the lounge. Alice made sure that we didn't run out of topics since she was the one that spoke the most. That was normal for her though but we always knew that she did something wrong or she was in a bad mood when she didn't say anything so as long as she was talking then we were happy.

"Hey Jared, wanna party up with me and clear a dungeon?" Morgan asked me.

"Remember the last time we partied up and did a mission?" I reminded him.

"That's unfair. Alice was the one that messed up the plan." Morgan stated.

"You guys were supposed to protect me so don't blame me." Alice defended herself.

"We did protect you. Bianca put a spell of protection around you and Jared gave you the stone wall defense. Nothing could've touched you." Morgan was right but Alice was too stubborn to admit defeat.

"You and Alice don't work well on a team." Bianca told him. She always got blunt and straight to the point in situations like these.

"That's why I need Jared." Morgan's statement startled me to say the least. He needed me, why did he need me specifically? I thought about it and suddenly everything made sense. He wanted to clear a dungeon and dungeon always had a lot of treasure and he didn't have a lot of inventory space which is where I came in. With me there then all he had to worry about was attacking as well.

"You only want me for my unlimited inventory space." I stated.

"What else would I want you for? Your attacking and magic statistics aren't that high to help me anyway." Rude but true. He takes every chance he gets to remind me that he was the superior player. Clearing a dungeon would benefit me as well but I would rather do it with anyone else than Morgan.

"I think I'll pass on that then. I have other things to do anyway." I turned down his offer.

"Like what? Do you have a date with Stephanie perhaps?" Somehow he always had to bring her up.

"Nope. She's probably doing something else. Anyway, it was nice chatting to you guys so I'll see you in the morning." I told them then made my way up to my room. I loved my siblings but at some point you had to draw a line. Too much of a good thing is bad.

I made my way to my room then closed it and undressed me. I put on my boxers and a sleeveless t-shirt. I hated wearing pajamas so this was close enough for me. It was winter but my body was like a heater at night. No matter what I wore, I always sweat way too much. I made myself comfortable on my bed then switched on my link and entered the game.

I ended up back in the guild hall where I logged out earlier. I didn't see anyone else around so I was probably the only one online right now. I checked my inventory to check if the ring that I had found was still there. I was relieved when I saw it still there and I knew that Stephanie had put the other ring in a safe in one of the storage units in town so no one could access it except her. I sat down on one of the benches then opened the missions menu and looked through the millions of missions the game offered. Each player was given the same missions so if someone didn't do that mission yet then they could do it together. If you did do the mission already then you could still help another player but it wouldn't benefit you. Another thing about the missions was that you never knew the difficulty of the mission until you did it. Some missions were as easy as picking an apple off a tree while others ended up being as difficult as getting a tooth out of a dragon.

"Um... excuse me." I heard a voice. I closed the menu then looked up and saw a female knight standing at the entrance of the guild hall. Her pure silver armor was clearly part of a set and she looked like she had the whole set on from the boots to the helmet. The only part of her body I could see was her face.

"Good evening and welcome to Thee Phantoms. What can I do for you?" Our guild was called Thee Phantoms and since Stephanie wasn't here, I would have to take charge.

"I'm looking for the leader of this guild." She looked like she was a little paranoid. Maybe someone was chasing her and she was looking for a safe place to log out. I stood up and began making my way to her.

"Our leader is not online at the moment but you are welcomed to come in. Close the door behind you." I instructed her. I could see that she was relieved that I allowed her to enter. Something didn't feel right about this. You can't kill anyone in a guild hall but that didn't mean that you can't attack that person or hold that person captive and take all their items. I immediately began planning an emergency exit. I didn't have any battle armor on right now but she looked like she was ready for a war.

"Thank you. My name is Lady Edrea." Typical knight name. Female knight players always named themselves 'Lady' and males always chose 'Lord' or 'Sir'. It irritated me but I probably would've done the same if I was in their shoes.

"My name is Junkyard. Not as glamorous as 'Lady Edrea' but it's a pleasure to meet you." I held my hand out for a handshake and she aptly complied with an amusing smile on her face. Suddenly her avatar got registered in my profile and mine got registered in hers. We could see each other's name, health status and level but that is as far as we could see without anymore permission from each other and I wasn't going to let a complete stranger see the rest of my statistics.

"So Lady Edrea, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Nope. I should be on my way. It was nice meeting you Junkyard."

"Likewise, Lady Edrea." I gave a polite smile before we nodded in agreement. She left the building and I immediately lowered my guard. I didn't know what she wanted from Stephanie but she didn't exactly seem like a team player so she definitely wanted something from us.

I ignored her and decided to go check out the dungeon that Morgan was talking about. I didn't know where it was but the best thing about this game was that I could see where the people that were on my friend list were at all times unless they turned off their location settings. I could also call them using the game or talk to them via earpieces like Stephanie and I did during our earlier mission. I opened my friend list and immediately went to Morgan's name then checked his location. He was in a mountain in the northeast part of the map. The game map changed everyday so that mountain could be on the opposite side of the map tomorrow which meant that I couldn't mark it on the map. I opened my inventory and took out a transporting gem. Gems contained spells in them so that players who weren't Wizards or Magicians could still perform them at a higher magical energy cost. The transportation gem allowed me to travel to any place on the map but I could only use it once then it would turn into dust.

I used the gem and immediately found myself standing outside the cave that would lead into the mountain. 'Mount Zuldig' hovered in the sky above the mountain. The places had weird names sometimes which is why I hardly paid any attention to them.

"What's wrong player? Scared to go it alone?" I heard someone say then saw a group of five players come around me and stand in front of me. They all had huge swords and were fully clothed in knightly armor. I couldn't see their levels but it had to be high if they were this cocky.

"I'm just here to pick up the pieces after you guys die or defeat whichever monsters are inside that cave. I'm getting out of there with a huge loot either way." I knew my reply would cause some sort of reaction out of them since most knights hated players who fed off of other player's hard work but I really couldn't care less what they thought of me.

"That's only if you can keep up. Staying out here won't do you any good." It was the same voice so whoever was speaking had to be their leader. They had their helmets on covering their face so I couldn't see who was talking.

"It won't do you guys any good as well. I guess I'll see you guys inside."

"We will see you inside as well."

"No you won't." I cheekily replied. There was a short silence before they decided to turn around and make their way inside the cave. I released a sigh of relief at their departure. Getting into a fight right now would really not end well for me. We weren't in any town limits so they could kill me without being punished and they could take the ring that I had.

I needed to get ready. Being a thief and an Arch Wizard that couldn't perform attacking spells didn't leave me with much offence so I would have to use my stealth to my advantage. I opened my inventory and equipped myself with the armor that would make me invisible and as quiet as possible while also being fast and agile. The only downfall was that my defense and attacking statistics suffered but I equipped myself with an enchanted necklace that recovered 10% of both my health and magical energy every minute. I also chose two daggers that increased my health by the amount of damage I did with it. I might not have any defense but I was definitely not going to go down easily. I had my teleporting gem and Orb of Protection ready in case of an emergency as well.

Once I was ready, I swiftly entered the cavern. I wasn't surprised by how daunting and eerie the atmosphere felt but I was surprised to see items lying on the ground of the cave as soon as I entered. I knew that knights and wizards didn't have much inventory space so they obviously left everything that they didn't need behind but the amount of things they left was astonishing. Being a thief allowed me to sort through the items lying on the ground quicker than anyone else and it made me attracted to more important items. Unfortunately there was nothing useful for me in the river of items decorating the path. I quickly but quietly made my way further into the cave being mindful of the items lying on the ground further in the cave. Soon the cave began splitting into different paths but I just continued down the path that had the most items. I began finding items that interested me or that could at least be sold at a high value so I began picking them up and putting them in my inventory.

I began hearing footsteps behind me so I quickly made my way against the wall of the cave then crouched down. I was invisible but some spells could still see through the invisibility.

"Here's more items. I guess they came this way." A girl dressed in one of the most distinctive Arch Priest clothing in the game. She had two knights and one samurai protecting her. That was a pretty impressive team to say the least. I waited until I couldn't hear their footsteps or talking before I continued following the items on the ground. I walked for what felt like twenty minutes picking up certain objects before I heard or even saw another player again but when I did, they were all standing around and not wanting to go any further. I quietly went against the wall then listened in to what was being said.

"This mission is impossible. Those twin bulls can't be defeated until their enchanted armor are defeated." That certainly caught my interest. I immediately opened my missions menu then went to the mission that they were talking about.

'The Enraged Twin Beasts' was the title of the mission. The mission was to defeat them. Simple yet extremely dangerous. There were over 50 players standing in the passage of the cave blocking the way to the arena where the bulls were waiting for them.

"What about spells that slowed them down or froze them?" That was a good suggestion. That should work.

"Their enchanted armor makes any magic cast against them null and void." No wonder this mission was so proving to be so difficult.

"We'll just have to pool all our power together then. Everyone who can cast spells to increase the fighters should do that then maybe we can over power those monsters with our numbers." At least these players were thinking.

"I'm not putting my life on the line for a 'maybe'." There it was. No one was willing to risk their progress in the game for a fight that they might not be able to win anyway. Dying in the game meant that you lost all your progress, money, experience and items and you would have to start again by level one. No one wanted that. Hell, most gamers went as far as to say that it was a fate worse than death.

"The game doesn't get easier from here. If you want to leave then go right ahead." If this kept going down this road then no one was going to be willing to put their lives on the line. I looked around but no one was turning around to leave yet I could sense the disbelief among them. They might as well have just left.

"We came here to take these bulls down so that's what we'll do." Some of them were clearly more motivated than others but they still didn't have a plan.

"I have an idea. I can summon two ice golems that could distract them for a moment so does someone have a way to break their armor?" One of the players dressed as an Arch Wizard asked. He was fully going for the look as well; cape, staff, pointed hat.

"I can enchant someone's sword to slice through anything but it only works for one slice." Now they were getting a plan.

"I know that spell as well."

"Can you guys do the spell now to all of us? One of us has to get through then at least." Their plan was taking shape and I was more interested in it now. They can carry out their plan while I go around the arena looking for items to steal. I am after all a thief.

It took a few minutes for all the Knights, Warriors, Samurai, Ninja and Assassins to get their weapons spelled and for the Wizards and Magicians to replenish their energy before they were all ready to enter the arena.

"Good luck everyone and let's show these beasts who the real beasts are." Not the best speech but it got a few shouts of agreement so it was definitely motivating on some level. They began piling into the arena so I discretely entered as well then stood behind a boulder as I saw that the huge twin bulls were lying on the ground side by side. The players began surrounding the bulls so I used that opportunity to look around the place for any secret treasure chests that might contain valuable items but I didn't see any. My thief abilities would've easily sensed if there were any chests in the arena as well but I wasn't picking up on anything.

Suddenly there was a huge thud and everyone's attention turned to the exit which was now blocked by a huge boulder which could only mean one thing: Boss Battle. A Boss Battle was an event that automatically activated when a legendary creature was found and threatened. The fight was usually to the death but sometimes the game allowed players to teleport back to town for safety. That obviously depended on the place you found the legendary creature in as well. If you found it in a desert then obviously you could escape but if you found it in a cave like this then escape wasn't an option. I took out my teleporting gem and tried to use it but I couldn't so this was unfortunately a fight to the death. I really chose the wrong time to be a thief. Dying right now wasn't an option for me and there was no treasure in the arena so I had no choice but to help them.

"Everyone get ready. This is a Boss Battle." Someone loudly announced. I heard grunting then felt a few vibrations on the ground which could only mean that the bulls were waking up. I peered out from behind the boulder that was protecting me and my thief abilities immediately activated but I didn't like what it was focusing on. The bulls were standing on two legs looking around at the players surrounding them. They were equipped with a breastplate that was clearly enchanted by the way it glowed. One bull wielded a double sided axe while the other wielded a terrifying looking mace. Another interesting thing that I picked up on was their horns. It was gold plated but something seemed unnatural about them.

As if on cue, both bulls released an extremely menacing roar which definitely left me trembling but I quickly regained my composure. If I was going to survive then I needed to help them. I didn't have any weapons in my inventory that would be useful to any of them or to me in this fight right now so I needed to think out of the box.

"Don't be afraid. Remember the plan. Get their armor off them then they will be vulnerable." That's it. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

Two ice golems suddenly began forming on the opposite side of the arena from where I was hiding. The bulls were towering over us by at least three storeys so the ice golems needed to be anywhere near that size if they wanted to stand a chance at distracting the bulls.

"Attack!" Someone ordered once the ice golems were fully formed. The golems were at least half a storey shorter than the bulls but that was enough to get the bulls distracted for a moment. Players rushed towards the enormous beasts who didn't pay any attention to them as they swung their weapons at the smaller yet equally terrifying golems. I took that opportunity and enacted my plan as well. I came out from behind the boulder and made my way closer to the bulls but still kept my distance way behind the other players.

"Steal." I commanded as I activated my ability and aimed it at the bull with the axe in its hands. My 'Steal' ability worked on other monsters before so it should work on these two. Suddenly the bull with the axe had its armor disappear and it landed right in front of me. It worked but I didn't have time to celebrate. I immediately put the armor in my inventory then used my same ability on the other bull and stole his armor as well. I could see that most of the players were confused but they were too busy focusing on the battle to try and figure out what happened.

"Their armor is gone. Take them down!" A player ordered. Easier said than done though. Even without their armor, they were two giant creatures with two menacing weapons and two extremely short tempers. The bulls defeated the ice golems so now all their attention was focused on the players. Unfortunately I could only use my 'Steal' ability once per person/creature/monster but I still had one more trick up my sleeve.

I quickly hid behind the boulder again then opened my inventory and switched out my daggers for two of my weakest short swords. It was just ordinary swords that didn't have any abilities so it was perfect for what I was going to do next. I went back out from behind the boulder then got into position again.

"Item switch." I commanded as I activated my ability. The plain sword in my left hand was immediately transported to one of the bulls and I instantly felt my hand planted against the handle of the double sided axe which plummeted to the ground in front of me. I immediately put the weapon in my inventory but saw the bull who's weapon I stole staring at me. Suddenly I saw it's horns lighting up as it dropped down to all four limbs.

"It's distracted, take it down!" I heard someone give the order. So much for helping them but in all honesty, I would've done the same in their predicament. I saw them attacking the bull with all kinds of magic spells and weapon skills but it wasn't doing a lot in the form of damage. The bulls skin provided a natural defense that was nearly impossible to take down. I began running around the edge of the arena until the bull with the mace was in between me and it's twin.

"Item switch." I commanded once again then switched my other plain sword with that of the bull's mace. Both bulls attention then solely focused on me as I put the mace in my inventory.

"Whoever it is that is helping us, thank you and continue the good work." One of the players said. Both bulls were on all four limbs with their gazes locked solely on me.

"I stripped them of their armor and weapons but that is all that I have so if someone has any great ideas to keep them from killing me when their horns are fully charged then I'm open to suggestions." I stated as I began running around the perimeter of the arena again. The bulls were angry and they were dead set on killing me so the worst thing I could do was stand still. If I was their prey then at least I would be one stubborn prey.

"If we blind them then at least they can't focus their attacks." A male ninja stated.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked him.

"Well for one, we need them to stop moving so you need to stand still." This time it was a female voice but I couldn't see who it was coming from.

"I think you underestimated how open to suggestions I really am willing to be." I was beginning to get tired from all the running. I knew that I had the energy to run a marathon but that was in the real world. The virtual world didn't really account for that but if push came to shove then I would rather continue running and have a chance of survival that I could control than stand still and leave my fate in the hands of other players who I don't know.

"But blinding them would be the best option." Still the same female. She was either very confident in her plan or she really didn't care about me. It didn't really effect her anyway.

"Then I might have the perfect item for them." I remembered using the Blinding Star earlier during my mission with Stephanie and it could work now with these bulls but it would only probably blind them for a couple of seconds considering the level these monsters must be.

"How much Blinding Stars do you plan on using?" Someone smartly asked me.

"I only have 3 in my inventory but if I draw them close enough to me then I can use it and stab their eyes in those few seconds. Can I count on you guys to finish this after that?" I wasn't even sure my plan would work but if I could give them a glimmer of hope then I certainly would. I needed it as much as they probably did.

"If you do your part then I definitely think that we can too." This time it was a tall Knight that boldly stepped out of the crowd and confidently answered me.

"Here goes nothing then I suppose." I opened my inventory then took out my 3 Blinding Stars and took out two of my cursed daggers. If I wanted to ensure that the bulls couldn't see then I would need them. I stopped running then turned to the bulls who were side by side with raging red horns attached to their heads. They quickly began charging towards me and I knew that I had to act fast.

"Everyone cover your eyes!" I warned them as I began running towards the two massive beasts as well. I activated the Blinding Star then immediately dodged the first bull but used my daggers and stabbed the monster then hung on until it stopped. I then began climbing up the bull until I got to the top. My health was slowly deteriorating the more I stabbed the bull but now that is was on top of it I just need to stab it in its eyes. I reached its head then activated another Blinding Star to blind it again. It violently shook it's head to probably get me off but I hung on then stabbed its eyes and felt the power of the daggers enter the bull. It cried out in pain when I did so I took out my daggers then stood up and quickly jumped onto the other bull. I didn't have to do too much work getting to its head and activating my last Blinding Star before stabbing that bull's eyes as well.

"Are you finished yet?" I heard someone ask.

"Yes. The effects of the last Blinding Star should lift in the next 10 seconds but both bulls are blinded for the time being. "I answered the person then focused my attention on the horns of the bull. I pulled on it and suddenly one of the horns came off. I pulled the other horn and it easily came off as well. Only small holes remained as a memory of where it's mighty horns were implanted.

Both bulls became eerily still for some reason but I could feel that they were still alive. I put the horns in my inventory then jumped onto the previous bull. It growled a bit when I landed on it but it didn't do anything else after that.

"What are you doing?" The same female voice asked me.

"I'm taking its horns. I don't think you guys will have any excuse to lose after that." I answered her as I struggled a little to take the other bull's horns but I eventually got it then put it in my inventory.

"I did my part, now it's your turn." I told them then suddenly I was hit off the bull's head by a strong force. I missiled towards the wall of the arena and painfully landed against it. My health dropped to way below what I was comfortable with. I fell down to the ground but immediately took my Orb of Protection out and activated it.

"Whoever you are, did you just die?" The female asked as the barrier went up.

"Not yet but I am close to dying if you guys don't do something about these fucking bulls soon." One of the irritating yet realistic features of the game was the pain setting and I was certainly feeling the affects of it right now. I could feel my enchanted necklace slowly replenishing my health and my magic energy but I knew the barrier would fall way before I was at full strength again.

"Leave the rest up to us then. Let's take them down!" A huge roar of excitement and unity flowed out from the group as they charged the two bulls. Unfortunately for them, the bulls' survival instincts kicked in and they blindly began attacking and defending themselves without any sort of pattern. They were just doing their best to survive so that meant that they were scared and finally vulnerable.

"Everyone get away from them. I threw a bomb into each of their mouths so they are going to explode in a couple of minutes." A ninja dressed in head to toe black attire.

"Fall back!" The order had every player running away from the two gigantic beasts. Suddenly something inside the bulls exploded and expanded their stomachs. Blood came pouring out of their mouths, eyes and noses as the two monsters fell to the ground.

"We won!" And other victorious shouts resounded in the arena when the message 'Boss Battle Completed' flashed in the sky. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw two dead bulls disappearing into thin air. The entrance immediately began opening again so I immediately took out my teleporting gem and saw that I could use it.

"You guys certainly know how to party but if you do find another boss then please don't invite me to it again." I jokingly told them causing a few laughs.

"We don't even know who you are or how you look." The bold knight told me.

"You can call me Junkyard. See you guys around I guess." With that, I immediately teleported back to the guild hall. I was alone in the building so I immediately unequipped my armor and weapons then and put on my usual attire before heading over to the guild master's counter.

"Good evening." The guild master politely greeted me. "What can I do for you?"

"The Enraged Twin Beasts Mission Completed." I stated. Suddenly my game progress opened up and I immediately saw all my statistics increasing by huge margins. This was probably the effect of helping defeat not one but two legendary creatures. I finally managed to level up as well. I went from level 46 to level 49 all because of one scarily crazy mission. I saw that I received a huge cash bonus and a treasure chest that contained 5 rare items: Ring of Deceit, Cloak of The Undead, Horn of Honour, Purity Gem and The Iron Castle Defense Spell. Damn, I knew I was a thief but they could've at least thrown in a weapon or two. I needed an upgrade in offence and not in being a better thief.

I didn't feel like reading through what each item did and I was tired so I decided to log out. I needed to go sleep as well. Tomorrow was the first day back at school after the summer vacation and I knew it was going to be one hell of a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

**HEY GUYS AND GIRLS. I KNOW THIS STORY CAN DRAG A LITTLE AND BE BORING AND STUPID AT TIMES BUT THAT'S ME, JUST ANOTHER STUPID GUY. IF YOU HANG IN THERE THEN I AM SURE THE STORY COULD GET BETTER OR EXTREMELY WORSE BUT YOU WON'T KNOW UNLESS YOU READ I GUESS.****HAPPY READING:)**

"Looks like I'm catching a ride with you today." Alice said as she entered my room the next morning while I was dressing me. She planted herself down on my bed then took out her cellphone and probably began chatting.

"What did you and Morgan and Bianca fight about this time?" This had become a norm for me. Bianca, Morgan and I all got our driver's license so our parents got each one of us a car but Alice didn't want to get her license as well so she would just get a lift to school with one of us. Normally she would go with Morgan since the two of them got along better than they did with Bianca and myself but if Alice had a fight with Morgan then she would rather choose Bianca over me. The only way she would come to me for a ride is if they had a fight so I knew that something was up.

"Mom and dad are going away this weekend and Bianca doesn't want to let me throw a party. Morgan is too interested in which girls he is going to have sex with this semester to even care about anything else." That explained everything.

"Why do you need to throw a party? You're already popular." I put on my shirt as I went over to my cupboard to continue grooming me. I didn't really care much for a conversation and neither did Alice but I knew that we weren't going to enjoy an awkward silence so we would just have to keep up this less awkward conversation.

"Exactly why I need to throw a party. If anyone finds out that our parents aren't going to be at home and I'm not throwing a party because of it then my reputation is screwed." Her logic seemed to be idiotically correct. This was one of the main reasons why I hardly had friends; no expectations were necessary.

"If Morgan is looking for girls to have sex with then a party is the ideal place so he should be on board with you."

"He is but he is disgusting. Now I just need to get Bianca on board."

"Why not use the same logic that you are using to throw the party?" I could see that I confused her but she moved her cellphone out of the way to look at me so I definitely got her attention.

"Bianca is a senior now and seniors love to party. If they find out that our parents are out of town for the weekend and Bianca doesn't want to throw a party then her reputation would be screwed just as much as yours would be. You girls are in the same boat I guess."

"Jared you are a god damn genius." Alice furiously typed something onto her cellphone before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Somehow I feel like you just did something that would force Bianca to agree to the party."

"Nothing that can't be fixed with a little persuasion." Suddenly she looked at me with a devious smile on her face. "I know that you and Bianca are close so could you speak to her for me please?"

"Not a chance." I replied as I let out a small laugh.

"Come on Jared. Do it for me please." She sat up on my bed now and I could see the desperation in her eyes. If she was that desperate then maybe I could get her to do something for me.

"Not even if you paid." I enticed her. If she was smart enough like I knew she was then she would pick up on the hint. Alice was the youngest out of the four of us. She was 17 and in a grade lower than Morgan and I who were 18. Bianca was 19 and a senior now so she had all the power while our parents were away.

"Then what do you want from me?" Looks like she was smart enough.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I challenged her as I raised my eyebrow. "I can easily get Bianca to throw this party but there is one thing that I want from you."

"What do you want?" I can see that she got a little nervous by my previous statement and kept her guard up when she folded her arms.

"I want you and your popular group of friends to protect me."

"Protect you? What do you mean?" Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Protect me against any gossip or being bullied or even being targeted for by a dare. I just want to go to school and be left to do my own thing without anyone spreading rumors or making a fool out of me."

"That's easy enough. It's not like they do that anyway." Her smile screamed in triumph on her soft face.

"Just think of it as my insurance then." I replied as I finished getting ready then grabbed my bag and pulled it over my right shoulder.

"Let's go."

"First you need to go talk to our sister." Alice told me. "I can't honor our deal if you can't do your part."

"Fair enough." I agreed.

"I'll be waiting in your car." She grabbed my car keys out of my hand then made her way past me as she exited my room. I sighed then closed my door as I exited my room as well. I walked down the neatly decorated passage to Bianca's room while I tried to figure out how I was going to play this. Getting Alice to do something was child's play compared to convincing Bianca but if anyone of us were going to be successful then it should be me.

"Ready for the day?" I asked Bianca as I leaned against the door frame leading into her room. I never liked entering any one of my sibling's room but unfortunately they didn't share the same trait.

"Yeah. My first day of the last year of high school. Excited yet sad you could say." She sat in front of the mirror brushing out her long brown hair.

"Don't be sad. If you make this year your best year then you won't have to be sad and you'll leave high school with no regrets." I knew exactly how to convince Bianca now.

"That's the plan." She agreed as she tied her hair up in a pony tail now.

"Alice told me about her plan to have a party." Here goes nothing. Hopefully this didn't all blow up in my face.

"I told her that she can't have a party."

"In all honesty, I totally support your decision."

"But...?"

"But Alice doesn't think she needs your permission and if you know our sister then you know she isn't just going to let no be no."

"She just has to."

"I'm all for not throwing a party but if Alice and Morgan team up against you, which they probably will, then I'm not going to join this fight. I love you guys but I'm not planning on getting any more involved in this than I have to."

"What are you doing here then?" She turned in her chair to face me so I knew that this was the moment that either determined my success or my failure.

"I'm trying to prevent a war between you guys by giving you a better choice." I replied as I stood up straight and got ready to present my argument.

"Look, Alice is going to go to school and going to announce that she will be throwing a party with or without your consent. People will then begin coming to you to confirm it and if you and Alice are spreading two different messages then the two of you will be the center of attention in a negative way which is not really the way you want to start a year. My suggestion is that you take control of this whole thing. You denied permission for Alice to throw a party so you should take control and throw it instead. You have the best planning skills and if it is going to happen anyway then let it happen your way. This way Alice will be happy and owe you one and everyone at school will be on your good side. To be honest, I don't see how you lose in this whole situation. Hell, I will even help you with this party but the only thing I ask is that you please don't let this be the cause of another stupid fight." A long silence followed when I was finished speaking, giving time for Bianca to think it through.

"Can't say that you're wrong." She told me as she continued thinking. "Fine, in the name of keeping the peace, we'll have a party on Friday night but our parents can't find out. Tell Morgan and Alice that we're going to talk about this later."

"Yes ma'am." I replied as I let out a sigh of relief. "See you at school and stop fiddling with your hair. You're beautiful and any guy will be lucky to have you." I could see a smile spread across her face before I left her room again. I inwardly celebrated my victory as I made my way downstairs and went straight to the garage where Alice should be waiting.

"And?" Alice asked as she leaned against my cherry red luxury car.

"Did you honestly think I would fail?" I replied as I approached her and I could see her excitement rising with every step I took.

"Thank you thank you thank you." Alice told me as she came over to me then threw her arms around my neck. "You're the best brother ever."

"I don't think you should say that but I accept the compliment." I returned her hug then released her as she handed over my keys.

"I don't care. You are the best." She was clearly way too happy.

"Now you just have to keep up your end of the deal and we'll be fine." We got into my car and I immediately relaxed in my seat.

"No problem."

"Bianca wants us to have a meeting later as well, probably to lay down the rules for the party so you better be there or else this whole thing is off."

"I'll be there." She quickly took out her cellphone again so I knew that our conversation was over now. At least the silence would be comfortable and not annoyingly awkward.

I continued driving up the hillside to where our school was located on. It wasn't exactly the best place to put a school but the elegantly built, old era styled building certainly did symbolize the standards the school set for us; obedience, hard work and discipline. There was only one road into and out of the school since it was the only structure on the hill so there was always traffic when school ended for the day. In the mornings, there was hardly ever traffic though so I was grateful for that as I rode up to the huge brass gates.

"ID please." The school security asked us as he came to my vehicle. I quickly took mine out of my pocket and showed him as Alice handed hers to me so that I could pass it along. Once he was satisfied, he opened the gates and allowed us to enter. There was still less than an hour to go before school so I wasn't surprised to see parking lot relatively empty. I found a nice comfortable spot to park close to the building so that I didn't have to walk too far to the building and vice versa.

"Thanks for the ride big brother." Alice hopped out of the car then made her way up the stone steps and into the massive structure. I hated being called 'big brother' but only Stephanie knew that. I was only 'big brother' because I was 4 months older than Morgan anyway.

I grabbed everything I needed from my car then locked it and made my way into the building as well. The fresh smell of the trees and flowers in the courtyard mixed in with the old smell of books and aged wood blended perfectly and instantly woke up my sense to remind me that I was now at school. I walked down the freshly painted corridors then up the stairs to my locker which was perfectly situated between all my classes last year which meant that it was probably not going to be in the perfect spot this year. At least it was close to the cafeteria and boys toilet so that was still a huge bonus for me. I put all my books that I wouldn't need for the first period in my locker then made my way to the cafeteria to get some breakfast.

"Damn Jared, what have you been eating this vacation that has you looking like that?" That could only be one of Morgan's irritating friends and as I looked to the corridor on my right, I could only confirm it.

"Just the usual. You look mostly the same, except for the moustache of course." Daniel was one of Morgan's best friends at school so I knew that keeping things civil between us was best for everyone since he often came to the house as well and would definitely be coming to the party.

"I'm glad you noticed it. I heard the ladies loved some facial hair, something about making you look more manly or something so I thought I would give it a try but I need a wingman. What do you say?" There's was absolutely 100% no doubt that he was friends with my brother. I swear, if we switched him with Morgan one night during dinner then I'm pretty sure our parents wouldn't know the difference.

"I'm starving and I need breakfast but Morgan should be here soon. That way you can tear through all the girls at school." I replied. I could see that he wanted to say something else to try and convince me but I wasn't going to let him get that chance. "But hey, if you can land a senior this year then I might give that moustache thing a try."

"Oh, you're on Jared. Watch this space because I'm going to land a senior." That always worked with Morgan. Give them a challenge they'll like and you got their attention.

"We'll see about that. Anyway, I'm going to get some breakfast so good luck." I gave him a polite nod then continued on my way down the hall. I reached the cafeteria and saw that it was nearly empty, except for the few students who were sitting quietly and having something to eat while reading a book or doing something on their cellphones. The school did have a couple of places where students could play Creation but most students didn't use them since they probably spend all their time at home playing the game. School was a place where they came to be out of the house and learn so if they were just going to play Creation then they could've just stayed at home. It was comforting having the Links at school though, just in case of an emergency in the game which you needed to attend to.

I walked down the stairs then ordered a couple of sandwiches and a cup of tea before going to sit down on a bench by closest to a window which gave the best view of the town, the beach and the ocean. I could feel the temperature dropping to signal the end of summer so the beach was sure to become less popular but right now, I wouldn't mind sinking into the sand after a comfortable swim.

"I almost didn't recognize you if it wasn't for your consistent zoning." I turned my head then saw Stephanie putting her bag down on the table with a cup in her other hand. She wasn't all that different from how she looked in the game; a little shorter than me (about Morgan's height), brown eyes with lighter brown hair that was neatly trimmed to fall just above her shoulders, athletically built (no surprise since she played soccer for the school's girl team).

"And there you go again, zoning and thinking about who knows what." She sat down then opened one of my sandwiches.

"Sorry about that, had a long night and an equally long morning." I grabbed the other sandwich and opened it as well.

"I heard about the epic Boss Battle that happened last night you traitor."

"I didn't know it was going to be a Boss Battle or else I would've called you. Morgan told me about the cave and I was bored so I went to go see if there was anything valuable that I could go steal. I only helped them when I realized that I couldn't escape until the bulls were defeated." I defended myself but I could see that she was only joking. "And how did you know it was me anyway?"

"Come on Jared, I know you. You are the only player I know who has the invisible gear and has a large enough inventory to store not just one but two massive weapons not to mention the armor and horns that you took. To top it all off, you called yourself Junkyard." She had a triumphant smile on her face as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Only you know that it was me so I would like to keep it that way."

"Whatever. So what did you get for your reward and what are you going to do with the stuff you stole?" This was definitely not the breakfast conversation I thought I would be having at school but I've learnt to expect the unexpected with Stephanie.

"I got a ring and a cloak and a horn I think for the rewards. No weapons unfortunately. The game is rigged against thieves. I don't know what I'm going to do with the stuff I stole yet. Maybe I can get someone to make it into a weapon that I can use."

"Or maybe you could give it to a good friend of yours, you know, one with gorgeous brown eyes and a smoking hot body."

"Nope and since when did you begin speaking about your body like that?" It was a little strange to hear her speak like that but it was the first time I heard it so I should probably get used to it.

"Since I heard a couple of guys tell that to me." Her smug grin couldn't be missed as she took another bite. I was eating slowly as well since there was over enough time for us to just sit and catch up.

"Before I forget, a player by the name of Lady Edrea was looking for you last night at the guild hall. She didn't really seem interested in talking to me so who was she?"

"I don't know. Haven't heard her name before."

"Maybe she was just looking for a guild to join and wanted to see the leader first."

"Maybe. If she comes around again when you're not there then I'll give you a call."

"Okay." She agreed then pulled out a book from her bag and I immediately knew what she wanted to do. "Time for this year's rules."

The rules were something we did for 5 years now after someone told us that a girl and a guy can't be best friends without rules. We had a fight about that and ultimately ended up creating a set of rules that govern over our friendship. It was mainly for fun in the beginning but over time it came to be something that we can always trust to keep our relationship on track and to avoid fights.

"We know each other like the back of our hand so we don't need the rules anymore." I didn't really feel like doing it and I knew how to keep Stephanie happy so I didn't need the rules.

"That's what you said 2 years ago and we nearly ended up ending our friendship and we agreed that we would do this every year so if you're not going to help then I'll make the rules myself and you'll just have to follow them." She took out a blue pen then began writing.

"Rule 1: Never make fun of each other in front of anyone else." That rule was one of the constant rules since we started. We only changed a couple of rules every year as we got older and 'wiser'.

"Rule 2: Family is off limits unless given permission." Another one of the rules that were constant.

"You know I'm never going to date your brother." Stephanie told me as she rolled her eyes.

"I know but I haven't totally ruled out the possibility of you dating any of my sisters yet." I jokingly replied.

"Screw you. You're disgusting." I couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Stephanie wasn't into girls and I wasn't into boys but it didn't hurt to have a little fun about it.

"Rule 3: If we ever need a place to crash then our homes will always be open."

"My family does love you more than they probably love me so that is definitely not a problem for you." My parents didn't really care about mine or my sibling's friends as long as they didn't cause any trouble or get us into trouble. They weren't home most of the time anyway so they couldn't judge our friends for themselves as well.

"Hey, my dad likes you as well."

"Well your mom certainly doesn't like me all that much." It was true and she couldn't deny it. It's not that her mom didn't like me but more that her mom didn't like my parents. They never really told me what the deal was between our two families but all that I could figure out was that this was about something that happened before we were even born.

"My mom just needs to get over herself then she can like you and the rest of my friends."

"You have other friends?" I jokingly asked her causing her to immediately punch me.

"You're lucky you bought us breakfast."

"I bought me breakfast which you stole."

"Rule 4: What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours. Now this is our breakfast." I couldn't help but smile. Stephanie was something else.

"Rule 5: If ever we need help, we'll always be there for each other."

"That is definitely a rule we need. Rule 6: We'll always cover for each other when need be."

"Lying for each other, this is probably why your mother doesn't like me." I told her causing us to laugh.

"Rule 7: We'll always back each other in a fight."

"You can't fight to save your life." That wasn't entirely true but I couldn't blame her for thinking that. Every time it looked like I was heading to a fight with someone then Morgan or Bianca would stand up for me. I don't know if they wanted to protect me from getting beat up or protect the other person from me beating them up but they never allowed me to fight.

"That rule is more for me."

"Selfish are we?" I just shrugged my shoulders. "Rule 8: We'll always be happy for each others achievements."

"I never achieve anything anyway so that is just for you."

"You defeated two legendary creatures last night so that's an achievement."

"You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes as she just let out a small laugh.

"Rule 9: We'll always be happy for each other if we're in relationships."

"That goes without saying, doesn't it?" We always followed that rule even if it wasn't a rule. It's not like the two of us frequently got into relationships anyway. Throughout our friendship, Stephanie has only had 2 serious boyfriends and I've only had 1 girlfriend. I didn't really get into relationships, girls were just too troublesome.

"You always say that then we end up needing the rule."

"Fine, write it down."

"Rule 10: If we ever get into a fight with each other then the fight will end immediately if one of us gives the other chocolate."

"Why chocolate?"

"Because I like chocolate and what's yours is mine so if I give you chocolate then the chocolate is technically mine."

"Why do I feel like this set of rules are for your advantage and not for me?"

"Feel whatever you want. All I need is for you to sign." She replied as she signed the page then gave it to me to sign as well.

"Looks like I have a long year ahead of me now."

"And I'm going to enjoy every moment of it." Stephanie said as she smiled. "Talking about the year, you're joining the soccer."

"If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not a girl."

"I'm talking about the boy's team idiot." She rolled her eyes again while I laughed. I loved pushing her buttons but I knew where the line was so I never crossed it.

"I'll try out for the team but I don't think I'll get in." That was probably true. The school's soccer team was one of the most competitive teams in the Inter-schools League and they always finished in the top 3 so getting in was no easy job.

"Don't be so negative. They're only allowed 20 players and 5 of the players from last year graduated which means that there are now 5 new spots open unless one of the players from last year's team quit."

"So out of the 50 boys who will most probably be trying out, I'll have a 10% chance of making it."

"I'll talk to your brother and maybe see if he can put in a good word for you. He has a soft spot for me so he'll do whatever I say."

"Don't do it. If I'm going to get in then I want to do it on my own. I don't want his help."

"Hey, your brother might be a jack ass and a piece of shit but you know he'll always look out for you."

"Well I don't need him to." I replied as I drained my cup of its contents. My mood soured a little like it always did when it came to Morgan and Stephanie knew that.

"Enough talk about that idiot. Let's talk about something happier; getting you a girlfriend." I was glad for the change of subject but the new subject was something that I wanted to stay far away from as well.

"Happier for who?"

"For me and definitely for you especially once we find the right girl."

"It's not about finding the right girl. It's about finding a girl who becomes the right one."

"Which internet post did you steal that from?"

"You could learn a few things from the internet."

"Not right now. Our sole focus will be to find you a girlfriend so focus."


	4. Chapter 4

"Mr Claire, Ms. McCartney; could you come in here please?" Our principal called us as we made our way past his office. He sat behind his desk as two unfamiliar students stood in the room. The guy was as tall as me with sandy blonde hair neatly tied up into a ponytail while the girl was shorter than Alice (which was really short compared to me) and wore her mouse brown hair over her right shoulder. I could see that she had a couple of freckles on her cheeks while he had a mole next to his right eye.

"Good morning Mr Gaphney." Stephanie and I greeted the principal. I liked our principal. He was laid back and not as scary as one would expect but if you broke the rules then his punishments seemed to go straight to the extreme.

"These are two of the transfer students and I would like you to show them around the school so that they can get acquainted." The principal explained but I could see Stephanie looking the guy up and down already.

"We were about to head to class right now sir." I stated.

"Don't worry about it. Which class are you supposed to go to?"

"English period with Mrs. Olivier."

"I'll explain the situation to her while you show these two around. Off you go." The two students immediately followed Stephanie and I out of the room.

"You owe me." I whispered into Stephanie's ear so that they didn't hear me. I could see that Stephanie was confused as I stood up properly but I knew she would get it in a couple of minutes.

"Tall, blonde and handsome; Stephanie will show you around." I told him and I could see a look of worry on Stephanie's face before she composed herself again.

"Um... let's g-go then." I did my best not to laugh at nervousness but my amusement was clearly evident on my face. She began walking away from us trying to hide her embarrassment and the blonde boy immediately began walking behind her.

"I guess it's just you and me then. I'm Jared Claire." I held my hand out for her to shake. I wanted to get the awkward introductions out of the way as soon as possible so that the rest of this tour was a little less awkward.

"Any relation to the Mr and Mrs. Claire, the regional managers of Creation?" She shook my hand but her voice was calculating and blunt.

"They're my parents." I informed her. She was probably trying to get information out of me but everyone knew my story so as long as I don't give her any new information then everything would be okay.

"That's strange, you don't look anything like your parents." Did she know my parents? Who was this girl?

"My siblings and I are adopted." I studied her face to see if I might have seen her before but I couldn't remember. My memory wasn't exactly the strongest or any sort of strong for that matter but I certainly would've remembered her if I've seen her before but I didn't recognize her.

"I didn't get your name."

"I didn't give it." She replied as she smiled but I could see that she wasn't finished questioning me yet.

"Very well then, shall we begin the tour?" I suggested.

"After you." She certainly did have knack for strategy and she definitely did seem cunning. She scared me a little if was being honest. Usually I would only encounter people like this while I played Creation but here was someone who was the walking embodiment of the game.

"Can I see your class list please?" I asked her.

"Why?" It was a simple question but her tone and expression seemed to make it a lot more menacing than it should've been.

"I thought I could show you where all your classes were first so that you didn't get lost for the rest of the week." I explained but she didn't look convinced. "I know we just met but giving someone the benefit of the doubt could be beneficial sometimes."

"Fine." She opened her bag then handed me two pages stapled together. Her list of classes and teachers were on the first page as well as her locker assignment.

"Looks like we unfortunately see a lot of each other." I commented as I looked at her class list. I began walking and she easily fell in step with me.

"Which subjects don't you do?"

"Physics and Chemistry." I informed her then handed the pages back to her. "Other than that we have the same classes."

"What do you do instead of those two then?"

"Business and Economics."

"So you're just in it for the money."

"That's weird, I didn't think you would be much of the stereotypical type."

"And what do you think of me?" Her question came across as more of a challenge than anything.

"Mysterious girl who tries to find out as much information as she can without revealing any information about herself." I informed her. "Did I hit the nail on the head?"

"Not even close."

"Which part did I get wrong then: mysterious girl or refusing to reveal any information about yourself?" This time it was my turn to challenge her. I made sure to study her reaction. This was the first time that I would kind of have her backed into a corner and if I wanted to know more about her then how she reacts when she is in a corner would give me valuable information.

"Touché." She replied then stopped and held out her hand. "Eloise Davis."

"It's nice to meet you Eloise." I shook her hand and gave her a genuine smile. I could see her trying to hide a smile as well so I ignored it and began showing her around. I was willing to give her more information about myself and she wasn't willing to give me more information about herself so we just left it at that.

"Where were you so long?" Stephanie asked me during the break when I sat down on one of the windowsills in the cafeteria. This was our meeting place if we weren't together during the periods before the break.

"Mrs. Olivier. Had to go fetch the English assignment for this semester." I informed her as I grabbed her green smoothie then began drinking it through the straw. "This is disgusting by the way."

"Well it wasn't meant for you." She rolled her eyes then grabbed her smoothie out of my hands. "The assignment is supposed to be done in pairs so who is your partner?"

"Not you apparently." My tone was soft but it certainly carried enough anger to make her feel guilty. "What is that all about by the way? Are you ending our friendship so early in the year already?"

"Mrs. Olivier didn't give me a chance to speak let alone choose you as my partner. You know I would've chosen you if I had the choice."

"Fine. This is the one and only time I'm allowing it to happen." I replied then grabbed a chip from the packet she was eating out of.

"For the love of god, can't you go buy your own food?" I could see that she was getting frustrated which made me want to continue doing what I was doing even more.

"What's yours is mine remember?" I reminded her as I smiled then took another chip. "Anyway, who is this Matt person that gets to be your partner? I don't think I know any Matt's."

"Tall, blonde and handsome; his name is Matt." He was the other transfer student who was with Eloise in the principal's office morning.

"Looks like you really do owe me one." I told her with a smile. I didn't need the set of rules that we made to be happy for Stephanie. I was just happy trying to help her find her own happiness.

"So what else do we know about this 'Matt' person?"

"He transferred here from St George just like the girl you were with, Eloise I think." I nodded to confirm and to urge her to continue. "He plays rugby and he surfs. He also plays Creation like everyone else but he isn't any good. He's a nice guy."

"But...?"

"But nothing. He's just a little too nice for me."

"Maybe you need a nice guy."

"Maybe. We're partners so we'll be spending some time getting to know each other little more but don't hold your breath."

"Don't be so negative."

"Just stating the facts." She finished her smoothie then set the empty bottle down next to her. "So how did it go with the little girl?"

"Please don't go there. She's irritating and frustrating and annoying."

"Sounds like you."

"I'm not that bad. She makes you want to tear your ears off."

"I guess I will have to judge for myself." Stephanie motioned to something behind me and I immediately knew that Eloise was approaching us. "Relax, she can't be that bad."

"Jared, do you have an extra Link at your house for me?" Eloise asked me.

"Obviously. My parents are the regional managers so it's basically a requirement for them." I answered her then turned my attention to looking out of the window we were sitting by.

"Sorry for asking then. We both know how much you like your quiet time." For some reason she was really pushing my buttons. During the tour, she kept asking me question after question and when I refused to answer her, she asked even more questions until I finally gave in.

Suddenly Stephanie's laughter drew our attention to her.

"Sorry about this, it's just that I've never seen him so worked up before." Stephanie said as she laughed but I didn't find it amusing in the least. I looked at Eloise's expression and I could see that she found it a little amusing as well.

"Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend or not?" Eloise asked me. I turned to Stephanie who immediately continued her laughing.

"Eloise, this is my best friend Stephanie. Stephanie, this is my partner Eloise." I introduced the two girls.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Eloise." The two girls shook hands and shared a smile. I really hoped this wasn't the beginning of a friendship between them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." She turned to me and studied my expression before turning back to Stephanie. "Is he always this friendly?"

"Only on his best days. You should see him when he is hungry, he suddenly becomes Mr Popular." The two girls laughed at their sarcasm while I rolled my eyes then stood up.

"Where are you going?" Stephanie asked me as Eloise happily took my place.

"To get me lunch." I replied as I began walking away.

"Don't forget about us." Stephanie told.

"That was my plan." I could hear them laugh at my reply but I continued on my way to the counter. I ordered an extra large portion of Stephanie's favorite curly fries with three juices, each a different flavor so that they can at least have a choice. I didn't know why I felt that I needed to be kind to them but I was too lazy to fight it. Laziness was kind of an ugly habit of mine but I enjoyed it so I didn't care what other people thought about it. I collected my order and placed it on a tray then carried it over to where the girls were laughing about something again. I hated their friendship already.

"Have I told you how much I love you lately?" Stephanie happily asked me as I set the tray down between the two girls and I could see that she was happy about what I bought. I ignored her and turned around to find an unused chair for me to sit on. I grabbed the nearest one then took towards Stephanie and Eloise who were tasting all the juices that I had bought.

"I thought that you two would see the logic in me buying 3 different drinks." I said I sat down.

"We do. The logic is that there is more flavors to choose from." Eloise told me then took a chip.

"You've got to try this flavor combination Jared; mango drink with curly fries." Stephanie excitedly took a sip of the juice then handed it to me. I ate a chip then took a sip as well but I didn't really see why she was so excited. It was different and kind of enhanced the flavor but it wasn't really spectacular.

"I can't deny that it's a good combination." I commented as Eloise took the juice out of my hands and tried the combination.

"You have no taste." Eloise told me as she clearly enjoyed the combination as much as Stephanie did. Maybe it was just a 'girl' thing.

"So do you play Creation Stephanie?"

"Hell yeah. I can't wait to see what the update today is about." I almost forgot about that. The game was updating at my house while my siblings and I were at school so it should be finished by the time we get home. I was actually excited to see what the new update was about.

"Hopefully it finally allows us to get our levels back after we die because I'm too high of a level to die right now." I knew that Eloise was a player but she didn't want to answer my questions about it yet here she was openly speaking about the game with Stephanie. I guess she really doesn't like me for some reason.

"Me neither. Jared won't be missing anything though." Stephanie stated.

"Let me guess, he chose something stupid as his classes." Eloise said as she thought about it for a second. "Transformer and Wizard."

"You got half right. Thief and Wizard are his classes." Stephanie informed her. I didn't like the fact Stephanie was giving out information about my avatar but I didn't want to get in the middle of their conversation. Hell, I wanted to stay as far away from them right now but I knew that doing that would be rude right now so staying quiet and hopefully invisible was the best I could do.

"Damn, you really did want to suck at the game." Eloise told me as the two girls laughed.

"At least his unlimited inventory space makes up for his uselessness in the game." Stephanie stated.

"So much for Rule 1." I muttered as I took a chip. I felt betrayed somehow. I didn't know if it was because Stephanie didn't care about the rules or that she seemed to like Eloise more than she liked me now. Stephanie was my best friend and about my only friend at school and I knew that she had lots of other friends besides me but she never acted this way when I was around.

"Rule 1?" Eloise asked but the bell rang and immediately signaled the end of break.

"I'll see you girls later." I stood up then took the apple juice since that was the one that neither one of them liked too much. I was glad that I didn't have class with either one of them right now. I just wanted to be alone and sulk for a while. I was allowed to do that much at least.

"Wow bro, who stole your Stephanie?" Morgan asked during second break. I didn't feel like going to meet Stephanie the cafeteria after what happened during the first break so I decided to go to the field and sit on the stands surrounding the soccer field. I hoped that some sun and quiet would help bring my mood up again.

"Definitely not you." I replied. Morgan was joined by four of his friends who were also in the soccer team with him. Daniel was one of them, standing to the side looking around for possible girls that might be interested in him.

"Not yet." He sat down next to me and I immediately regretted coming to the field. This was not going how I wanted it to go.

"Alice tells me that we have you to than\ for getting Bianca to agree to the party. How did you do it?"

"I have a way with words. Bianca isn't all that scary as well. Just talk to her."

"I would rather not. She has that 'Speak-and-I-will-kill-you' kinda of stare so I try to stay away." That got a laugh out of me. I knew that Morgan was scared of Bianca but I didn't think he would be so open about it.

"Before I forget, when's the soccer try outs?"

"So big bro thinks he can make it into the soccer team." Morgan had a sly smile on his face as he said those words which instantly made me regret asking him but I still needed to know so I was just going to have to go along with it.

"I prefer being called 'better bro' as in better at soccer than little bro." Now it was my turn to smile. Calling Morgan out in front of his friends wasn't exactly a good idea but if he spoke to Alice then he should know about the deal we made.

"Tomorrow afternoon after school. We'll understand if you don't show up." At least I got what I wanted.

"I'll be there." We gave each other an approving nod and a little smile. Morgan and I have always been competitive with each other but we were nothing if not respectful as well. We understood each other all too well so we knew where to draw the line. I might not like him but he was still my brother no matter what.

"Hey Morgan, some idiots are messing around our locker room." A boy with bright orange hair informed him as he looked over the stands.

"I'll see you later bro." Morgan told me as he stood up. "Let's go take care of those idiots then." With that, Morgan and his friends left me to enjoy my peace again. I took out my cellphone and decided to do a little reading up about the items that I got from the battle last night. My cellphone was linked to my profile in Creation so I could go through my inventory and chat to people who were playing the game without having to be playing the game myself. It was a pretty handy tool.

I immediately went to the items that were recently added to my inventory then opened their description. First was the Ring of Deceit. That allowed me to choose a level and everyone who was able to see my level would see the level that I chose and not my actual level. It would be fun to mess with people's heads if I choose a lower level when I'm actually stronger. The next item was the Cloak of the Undead. That allowed me to slowly drain my opponents life during fight. The speed of the Cloak was 1 health point per second which wasn't that much but could be annoying to my opponents when they discover that they're slowing losing health. Next up was the Horn of Honour. It was an item that allowed me to fully control any creature that had a lower level than I did. It also allowed me to get a certain degree of control over creatures with a higher level than mine but they would still be able to resist my control. That would definitely help me since I could use my Arch Wizard abilities to summon creatures and it also worked perfectly with the Ring of Deceit. I could increase my level without actually increasing it but the Horn of Purity should work all the same. The next item was the Gem of Purity. That item allowed me to be protected against any creatures that want to attack me. That was great if I want to go through a cave without the fear of being attacked by a monster or walk through a forest and nothing would jump out from behind the trees to attack me.

I then went over to the spells column since I also got a new spell. Iron Castle defense spell allowed me to create a 360 degree dome that would protect me as long as I could maintain it. The dome allowed me to also send attacks out against my enemies while keeping any attacks from getting to me. It was a pretty cool spell if I was being surrounded and had to weaken my opponents a little before I went out and attacked.

The items that I got from the mission didn't seem all that bad anymore. Obviously I was still a little upset that I didn't receive any weapons but I didn't mind the items that I got anymore. They could all prove useful at sometime or the other.

The bell rang again to signal the end of the break so I lazily stood up and grabbed my bag. I made my way to my locker first so that I could get my book but I immediately saw Stephanie waiting for me as I approached my locker.

"This was the only chocolate they still had left in the cafeteria." Stephanie told me as she held a half eaten chocolate muffin in her hands then presented it to me.

"I hope you paid half price then." I jokingly told her as I accepted the muffin then took a bite of the sweet dessert.

"I couldn't find you and it was too tempting. Eloise and I had to try it." That explained why it was half eaten already.

"Is Eloise hanging around going to be a regular thing?"

"Only if you agree to it." That was just like Stephanie, putting all the pressure on me so that if my decision proved to be the wrong one then I'm the only one to blame.

"Eloise and I connected instantly and it's been a long time since I've been so comfortable around another girl. If you don't want her around then I'm fine with hanging out with her when the two of us don't have plans."

"Fine, she can stay but only because it would be troublesome to you to have to juggle yourself between the two of us."

"You're the best best friend ever." Stephanie happily told me as she hugged me then took the muffin out of my hand.

"Hey, you can't steal an apology muffin." I told her but opened my locker to take out my book.

"What's yours is mine remember." She had a sly smile on her face reminding me of Morgan's. The two of them were a little too alike which I didn't like but at least I didn't have to live with Stephanie so that why I liked her more than Morgan.

"Where is Eloise anyway?" I asked Stephanie as I closed my locker and the two of us began making our way to class.

"She said she is going to the toilet then going straight to class."

"I thought girls never let each other go alone to the toilets."

"Girls don't always do that."

"Well they seem to do it way too much."

"Shut up." Stephanie playfully told me as she put her hand over my face.

"Now that there is going to be three of us, who are you going to choose to be your partner for other assignments?" It was my turn to put her under pressure. We neared the class so our conversation was sure to end soon so I needed an answer.

"I'm going to choose Eloise of course." Stephanie answered me nonchalantly almost as if I was expecting that answer. I was honestly expecting her to choose me but I should've known that her spontaneous side would have more of a hold on her.

"You'll be partnered up with a girl that Eloise and I choose for you." Now it all made sense.

"Why do you want me to get a girlfriend so badly? I'm happy being alone in my own weird little world. Most girls are too troublesome anyway so I would rather be on my own." Stephanie had been like this for most of the summer vacation. My family went away for a week so we didn't see each other for that week but when I came back then she made it her mission to find me a girlfriend.

"That's what all sad and lonely teenage boys say. Just accept the fact that your best friend and your new female friend is going to find you a girlfriend."

"I wouldn't exactly call Eloise a friend." I told her as we entered the classroom that was a little too noisy since our teacher hadn't arrived yet. Stephanie spotted Eloise sitting in an empty row and immediately made her way towards her with me reluctantly following behind.

"Well she's my friend which makes her your friend."

"I'm really beginning to hate that rule."

"I know, which is why I made it."

"Took you guys long enough. Did he make you go buy another muffin because we ate on the other one?" Eloise asked as Stephanie and I took our seats in the row.

"We were just catching up and sorting a couple of issues out." Stephanie answered her. I just ignored them and tried to get ready for the lecture in my favorite period; history.

"I'm guessing that I'm the issue."

"Pretty much but you're now our issue."

"I didn't know I had to try out to be apart of this friendship."

"You didn't. I just had to convince Jared to accept you being in the same space as us."

"So he's a drama queen. Are you sure he isn't gay?"

"Haven't quite ruled that possibility out yet."

"It seems way more plausible than you think."

"He does say that girls are troublesome but he doesn't say anything about guys."

"See, makes sense." Suddenly a hush fell over the room as the awkwardly tall history teacher walked into the room. He always looked unbalanced to me but I never ever saw him trip or fall. Maybe it was just my imagination.

"Good afternoon everyone. Let's open our textbooks to chapter 1, The First World War." I was grateful that the class started so that I could at least have some peace and quiet while focusing on something I thoroughly enjoyed.

"Is there a way make this class more exciting? I mean come on, history is already boring but this guy's tone makes me want to sleep." Eloise whispered to Stephanie. We were the second last row so I don't think the teacher heard us but she could've at least shown him some respect and not talk while he taught.

"You get used to it after a while." Stephanie whispered back and I immediately knew that it was going to be a long couple of periods being stuck with them.


	5. Chapter 5

**OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW I GUESS. I'LL POST MORE AS SOON AS I HAVE MORE SO I GUESS THIS IS ALL FOR NOW.**

"I want in." Eloise told me as I drove us to my house after I dropped Stephanie at home after school ended.

"In where?" She was already speaking way too much for my liking but the only way to get over it and try to accept any kind of friendship with Eloise was to work through it so that is what I decided to do.

"In whatever kinda relationship you and Stephanie have." I was still confused by what she was asking and she could probably see it on my face.

"I mean, you are a guy and she is a girl and you're best friends but there's no romantic spark between you guys and you guys have some sort of rules that you use in your friendship so I want to be apart of that as well."

"Oh." I replied then let out a small laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Stephanie and I have been best friends for 8 years and we've only known you for less than 8 hours so you can't exactly get 'in' right away." I had to chuckle again. Eloise either didn't know how relationships worked or she was just very determined.

"What do I have to do then? How can I have a relationship with you and Stephanie the way that you two have with each other?"

"You can't have a relationship like mine and Stephanie's because all three of us are different. You and Stephanie already have a unique bond so all you have to do is be patient and build on that bond. One thing that will remain constant is trust and respect. As long as you respect Stephanie and prove to her over and over again that she can trust you then you might even be able to have a better relationship with her than I do."

"That's for Stephanie but how do I become your friend then as well? It's clear that I can't be a good friend of Stephanie's without being your friend so how do I break through this iron curtain that you have around you?"

"Like I said, trust and respect is the one thing that will always remain constant."

"You do know that those are 2 things."

"They might be 2 separate things but one cannot live without the other. If you truly respect someone then you will trust that person. How can you expect to trust someone you don't respect?"

"True." I turned to look at her for a moment and I could tell that she was thinking about something. "So what can I do to make you trust and respect me?"

"Have I been disrespectful to you today?" I asked her instead. She thought about it for a moment before she answered me.

"No. You've actually been kinda nice. I mean, you were forced to show me around this morning but you didn't do a bad job even if you didn't want to do it. You bought us lunch as well even when I imposed on your conversation with Stephanie."

"Why do you constantly make fun of me then? If you're threatened because I'm closer to Stephanie than you are then don't feel threatened because you'll sorely lose there. I've been here for Stephanie and you're new so stop trying to make me irrelevant to Stephanie and show her that she can have 2 best friends instead of just me."

"Crap, I'm so sorry about that. I completely misread you."

"That kind of happens a lot when you don't allow yourself to get to know someone before you decide whether they are worth having around or not."

"What do you mean?"

"Look how long it took me to get your name this morning. I answered your questions and introduced myself yet I had to back you into a corner before I could even get your name. If you don't trust others then how are we supposed to trust you?"

"Why is this all about me suddenly?"

"You said it yourself, I was nice to you today. You on the other hand could use a few tips."

"No I don't."

"Suit yourself." I knew she wasn't stubborn but I expected her to be stubborn earlier in the conversation already so this definitely was a good sign. Maybe there was a chance we could be friends.

I slowly drove up the driveway then parked my car in the garage.

"Nice house." Eloise commented once we got out of the car.

"Not mine but thanks." I replied as I led Eloise into the house. "Looks like I get to give you another tour today."

"You don't need to." Her attention was caught on the art pieces and ornaments in the passage we walked down. I didn't really have an eye for art or design but our mother certainly did and she decorated the house perfectly so I didn't blame Eloise for being captivated by it.

"True but indulge me then." I replied as I stopped once we were in line with the front door. "If you continue down the passage then the first door is a bathroom and the door at the end leads to the kitchen."

"It's a long passage for only two rooms."

"That bathroom is very spacious and we kind of have a big kitchen." I explained then walked towards the front door. "On our right is the dining room and on the left is the lounge with my siblings."

"You're late." Bianca told me as she drank a glass of juice.

"Sorry about that. Had to drop off Stephanie." I told them as Eloise joined my side.

"Damn Jared, whose child did you kidnap?" Morgan asked once he saw Eloise.

"Morgan, that's too far." Bianca told him but I could see Eloise stopping herself from saying something.

"Word of advice, my brother is an ass so if you want to reply then you may." I whispered in Eloise's ear.

"I'm just saying. She looks young and she is way too small for Jared." Morgan really didn't know when to shut up. Yes Eloise was small but that wasn't a problem. Eloise barely reached my armpit but she wasn't far shorter than Alice was compared to me as well.

"Maybe your head is just too big for your body." Eloise's response nearly made Bianca choke on her juice while Alice looked a little dumbfounded. Morgan just looked shocked.

"I like her." Alice happily said as Bianca and I started laughing.

"It's not funny." Morgan replied clearly beaten.

"You deserved that one." I told him once I stopped laughing. "Everyone, this is Eloise. Eloise, that is my younger brother Morgan..."

"Only by a couple of months." Morgan reminded us like he always did.

"As I was saying, that's Morgan, my younger sister Alice and my older sister Bianca." I introduced them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Eloise told them with a smile.

"The pleasure is all ours." Bianca said as she let out a small laugh.

"Hopefully you last longer than the other girl that he brought home." We knew that Morgan was a sore loser and loved to get revenge so I expected it but I didn't like it.

"What was her name again? Rochelle? Rachel?"

"Rebecca." I corrected him. "I'll be down in a couple of minutes then we can start." I gently grabbed Eloise's hand and led her out of the room and up the stairs before letting go.

"That was one way to meet your family." Eloise said as she smiled.

"Sorry about my brother. He's a dick but he's still my brother so I'm sorry." I apologized.

"Don't apologize, he is his own person."

"He's still family." I replied as I shrugged my shoulders. "Getting on with the tour, to the right and straight down the hallway is my parent's room. The room before that is Bianca's then the bathroom that she shares with Alice and the room next to that will obviously be Alice's. The room in front of us is Morgan's and mine is the one next to his. The three other rooms down the hallway are two guest rooms with a bathroom in between them. The rooms on the opposite sides of the hallways are also bathrooms."

"Pretty cool set up." Eloise said as she followed me to my room.

"Yeah. Not too cramped and we each have our own spaces to relax so I like it." I agreed as we entered my room. "This is my room so you can relax and put your bag down. There's my Link so you can use that while I go have my meeting downstairs."

"Your room is pretty boring you know." Eloise put her bag down next to my bed then sat down on it. "Where's the color or something to excite you? It's so dull."

"Don't you start as well." I put my bag down as well then did put my keys in my drawer and locked it. "You have an hour then I'm pulling you out."

"Have fun with your siblings." I turned around then left Eloise in my room and went downstairs to the lounge.

"You went over the line." I told Morgan as I sat down on one of the single couches.

"Whatever." Morgan replied. I wasn't angry at him before but his attitude now definitely angered me.

"Not whatever. She's a guest in our house and you will treat her with respect." My anger overwhelmed me as my voice was higher than I intended it to be.

"Jared, calm down." Bianca told me and I immediately closed my eyes to try and get my emotions under control again. I often had problems with controlling my temper but I never got physical. I didn't trust myself in that department which is probably one of the reasons why everyone else took it upon themselves to fight my battles for me, literally.

"Okay look, mom and dad are leaving Friday morning while we are at school and they will probably return on Sunday afternoon. We will have the party Friday night then clean up on Saturday and if anything breaks then we will be able to replace it by Sunday."

"Can't we just ask the servants to clean the house for us?" Alice asked.

"Mom and dad can't know about the party and the servants report to them. I'll ask mom and dad to give the servants the weekend off which means that we will have to cook dinner on Sunday evening." Bianca clearly had this all planned out.

"I wanted to try out the spicy chicken recipe that mom and I found. I'll make that on Sunday." Alice loved cooking for some reason, especially if it was with our mother. They had a real mother-daughter relationship.

"Write down the ingredients then I'll go buy the stuff we don't have on Saturday afternoon." I told her.

"Great, that's settled. Now to the party itself." Bianca's expression became much more serious now so I knew that this was important. "The noise doesn't matter since the house keeps most of the sound inside but no music outside the house after midnight. We can't control who comes to the party but if they cause a fight or make a huge scene then I'm kicking them out. The kitchen is off limits and so is the garage and our parents bedroom."

"What about our bedrooms?" Morgan asked.

"You guys can lock it if you want, it's up to you." Bianca answered him.

"I'm going to use the two guest bedrooms to store all the furniture and other invaluable items. We can't have anything important breaking. That way, even if mom and dad find out then they can see that we were responsible. I'll take care of the neighbors on Saturday if they have any complaints." I informed them.

"Words are your strong suit." Morgan really was testing my patience right now and I wasn't planning on backing down.

"Maybe it's time to see how strong my actions are." I stared at Morgan and I could see a hint of fear before he got his composure back.

"Can you two stop it already?" Alice's frustration was evident as she sighed.

"Is there anything else we need to speak about?" I asked them.

"Yes. No getting drunk. You can drink but the four of us need to stay sober enough to make sure that the party doesn't get out of hand." Bianca warned us. "That's all."

"I'll see you guys at dinner then." I told them as I stood up.

"Wait, we need to know what the deal is with you and Eloise." Alice told me.

"Eloise is one of the new transfer students and is one of Stephanie's friends. Mrs. Olivier put Eloise and I as partners on our English assignment so that's what she is doing here. Other than that, I don't know anything else about her." I informed her. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Do you need some condoms?" Morgan asked.

"Just shut the hell up." I told him as I walked past him. I immediately made my way towards the kitchen and decided to make Eloise and I a snack before we began working on our assignment. The servants often allowed me into the kitchen to make my own snacks if I was hungry so they didn't mind me working while they were working too. I knew that the only other person allowed to do that was Alice but Bianca and Morgan weren't allowed anywhere near the kitchen since they made the biggest mess and hardly ever cleaned up after themselves.

It took me about 10 minutes then I poured us some juice and put everything on a tray. I walked past the lounge but only saw Alice still lying on the couch and probably chatting to people on her phone. Bianca and Morgan probably went up to their rooms so I continued on my way to mine.

"I thought that you would still be in the game." I told Eloise once I entered my room and saw her lying on my bed.

"I was but if I had to take on a mission right now then I probably would've gotten stuck in the game and then we would've wasted this afternoon." She explained.

"I made us a couple of sandwiches and poured us some juice if you're a little hungry." I set the tray down on my desk then sat down on my chair and turned to her.

"Thanks for standing up for me." I immediately became a little embarrassed that she heard me earlier.

"You heard me?" I asked out of nervousness. Maybe she didn't hear me and just assumed that I did.

"Your voice kind of travels when you're angry."

"Sorry about that then."

"Stop apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong."

"It's just kind of who I am."

"Not everything bad is your fault so you don't have to apologize all the time." She told me as she took a slice of the sandwich. She took a bite but I couldn't really tell if she enjoyed it or not.

"You made this?" She asked me after she swallowed.

"Yeah. Alice and my mother kind of taught me a thing or two in the kitchen." I answered her then took a slice as well and ate it.

"We should get started. I don't think your parents will appreciate you coming home late on your first day at a new school."

"I live with my brother. Our parents do way too much travelling for work so they're never at home. The only time we get to see them is during the school holidays and some public holidays." She informed me. This was the first time she willingly shared information about her family with me. Did she feel more comfortable around me or was she trying to take my advice and learn to trust me more?

"I don't think your brother will appreciate it then as well."

"I'm his little sister so he has to love me no matter what."

"And he'll also protect you no matter what. Trust me when I say that he will do anything to make sure that you're safe."

"I am safe here right?"

"I don't see why you wouldn't be so I guess you are safe." I replied as I shrugged my shoulders. "Anyway, let's start."

"She's totally going to dump him." I told Eloise as we worked on our assignment. I was surprisingly enjoying my time with her. Once she allowed herself to relax and not be so guarded all the time then she was actually fun to have around.

"Just because she said 'we need to talk' doesn't mean that she's going to dump him." Eloise threw me with her copy of the book.

"Let's skip to the end shall we then we can see who she ends up with." I flipped through the pages of her book but she grabbed it away from me.

"No spoiling the fun. We're going to read the book cover to cover and not skip over any pages."

"I'm sorry to say this then Eloise but we need to talk." I jokingly told her then immediately started laughing and she joined in the laughter.

"You are a true idiot." She insulted me whole day already but her insults now definitely resembled a friendship. I was just glad to see her having fun.

"I aim to please."

"Um, excuse me." Bianca's voice immediately snapped us back to reality and we instantly turned our attention to the doorway she was standing in.

"What's up Bianca?" I asked my sister.

"5 minutes until 7 so you two better get down to the dining room if you know what's good for you." I immediately looked at the digital clock on my desk and saw that she was right. We had been working on our assignment for 3 hours already but it honestly didn't feel that long.

"We'll be down in a minute then." I told Bianca who gave me a weird look before walking away.

"I can't believe we've been working for so long already." Eloise said as she sat up then straightened her clothes.

"Time flies when you're having fun." I stood up and stretched my muscles while Eloise put on her shoes.

"I can't believe your parents make you guys eat dinner together." Eloise said but I could hear that she didn't have any bad intentions when she said it. I would even go as far as to say that she was envious of it.

"It's a family tradition I guess. Dinner at 7pm every night and whoever is in the house at that time will participate, no questions asked." I explained as we began making our way out of my room and down to the dining room.

"I kind of like it though. It shows that we will always come together and be united as a family even though we come from different places and lead totally different lives."

"I think you just destroyed the traditions of every other families." I couldn't help chuckling at Eloise's statement and I could see her smile as well as we entered the dining room where my parents and Alice were already seated.

"Good evening everyone." I greeted them as I led Eloise over to the seats on the opposite side of the table from where Alice was sitting.

"Mom and dad, this is Eloise. Eloise, these are my parents." I introduced them before we sat down.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Eloise." My mother replied with a genuine smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Eloise politely responded.

"Please, have a seat." Dad told her. I waited for Eloise to take her seat before I sat down next to her.

"Eloise, I don't think I've seen you here before." This was my father's way of questioning our friends without directly asking them a question. I knew from experience to let the guests answer so I let Eloise tell my parents as much as she wanted to about herself.

"Today was my first day at Hilltop High. I'm a transfer student from St George's High." She was calm and confident as she spoke. I was surprised that she didn't feel threatened by my parents seeing as she knows who they are and seeing as she loves playing Creation.

"Your parents must've found a great job in town then." My father was never this aggressive with his questioning before. He was probably trying to unsettle Eloise a little. I was actually interested to see how she was going to respond.

"My parents are always travelling for work so I live with my brother and a couple of other students in one of the student houses close to town. My parents thought that this school was a better choice for us." She handled that pretty well, even if I must say so myself.

"Hilltop High does have one of the best curriculums in the province." This time it was my mother that spoke. She was more calculating with her non-questioning questions so I knew that there was an underlying message that she wanted to convey.

"It is definitely more demanding but I've never been afraid of more work. Jared is actually my partner for our English assignment this semester and is showing me how to answer some of the questions. Some of them are very tricky." Damn, she was a pro at this.

"English is Jared's forte."

"I thought that History would've been his preferred subject."

"It is. Any subject is his favorite as long as it isn't science and technology."

"That I definitely picked up on." I didn't know what was happening right now. I looked over at Alice but she looked just as confused as I did. My mother never got along with any of my friends like this except for Stephanie yet here she was getting along perfectly with Eloise. This was just way too confusing.

Bianca and Morgan entered the room and suddenly I could feel the tension rising. I still had some anger towards my brother but I didn't want it to affect the dinner so I decided to ignore it for now. If I ignored it long enough then I should be able to forget about it and move on right?

"Eloise, I just want to say that I'm sorry about the way I treated you earlier." This was even way more confusing. Morgan apologizing was rare and apologizing to someone he just met was even rarer so something had to be up. I looked over at Bianca as she took her seat next to Alice while Morgan took a seat on the other side of Eloise. Bianca had a sly smile on her face so I knew that she definitely had something to do with Morgan's apology.

"Apology accepted. I'm sorry for the way I responded as well so let's continue on a clean slate." Eloise was definitely way more cheerful right now. I either totally misread her or she had way too many facades to try and throw me off.

"Great, everyone's happy now." Morgan happily said as I could see my mother motioning to the servants to bring dinner in.

"I think Jared still wants to kill you." It just had to be Alice to try and stir up some trouble but this could work to our advantage. Our parents would want to get involved to try and keep things from going out of hand so as long as they were occupied with this then they were less likely to find out about the party we were planning.

"What's this all about?" Our mother asked us but looked solely at me for an explanation.

"I didn't like the way Morgan treated Eloise earlier when I introduced her to everyone." I informed our parents.

"And I apologized so let's move on." Morgan clearly wanted to get this behind him but I could see that our patents weren't fully involved yet so I needed to give them just one more push and hope for the best.

"I can't just move on. I don't make inappropriate remarks about your friends in front of their faces the first time I meet them. That's rude and downright disrespectful." Yep, that definitely got their attention and it seemed to get my siblings' attention as well. I knew that I was going to have to explain this to them later but right now, their unsuspecting faces were exactly what I needed.

"Jared, son, I think it's best if we just let this matter be." Our father told me as he shared a definitely serious look with our mother. Bianca looked at me with a 'what-the-hell-are-you-doing?' kind of stare but I didn't know how to express my answer in a look so I just ignored her. I looked over at Alice who looked down at the empty plate in front of her probably out of guilt for starting this whole thing.

"Yes. Like Eloise said; 'let's continue on a clean slate' shall we?" I refused to give a reply so I was thankful when the servants began coming in and setting down the plates of food in front of us.

"Let's dig in." This was a new side of my mother that I never saw coming. She was always this calm and in control person yet here she was, nervous and trying her best to not let it show. She was probably trying to make Eloise feel comfortable and trying to keep me calm.

"Anyone have plans for this semester?" My father asked, breaking the silence that settled around the table. At least he was trying to get a comfortable conversation going again.

"All of you are required to join a club so what clubs are you planning on joining this semester?"

"I'm definitely going to continue my role on the Student Body Council." Alice cheerfully spoke up. She had been part of the council ever since she started high school and she was popular so no one really opposed her staying on the council as long as she kept the students in her grade happy.

"I'm sticking with the chess team as well." Bianca wasn't really a 'sporty' kind of girl so she chose to join the chess club since she knew how to play. Our father taught us how to play and Bianca and I often played against each other (none of us were really exceptional) so it was perfect for her.

"I don't know what I'm going to choose yet. The principal did say that I had a few weeks to decide as well so that I don't have any pressure." Eloise explained.

"How about you boys? What are you going to do?" Our father's questioning tone returned so I knew he was expecting a reply from both of us.

"I'm sticking to soccer. It's what I know best." No surprise from Morgan. He's always been good at it and everyone liked having him in the team. He preferred playing in the midfield but his position always changed to what the team needed it to be and he excelled at whichever position that was.

"I was going to try out for the soccer team this semester as well but I probably won't make it. I want to do a contact sport so maybe I could try out for Rugby or Football." I could see my parents sharing a concerned look between them for some reason. Was it that hard to imagine that I was interested in doing a sport?

"Can you even kick a soccer ball or throw a rugby or football?" Alice asked me as she laughed. Looks like it really was that hard to imagine me doing a sport.

"I know you've been exercising a lot and gaining some muscle but are you sure that you're ready for it?" At least Bianca didn't fully doubt me.

"I'm ready for it. I might now know how to play the game properly but I'll learn." My reply definitely seemed to amuse Alice but I expected it. I never showed any real passion for playing a sport and the only exercise they really saw me do was jogging and swimming.

"This is great. Morgan is in the soccer team so he can help you train and the two of you can do some bonding as well. You guys really need it." I knew that Eloise could be blunt sometimes but even I had to stop myself from choking when she said that. Morgan and I never really bonded with each other and we had no intention of ever doing it.

"I think that's a great idea." Bianca agreed but our parents still shared a concerned look on their faces.

"I would actually pay to see that. Jared and Morgan working together isn't exactly a common sight." The girls were certainly going to have fun with this but I didn't mind and Morgan couldn't exactly afford to speak out against this looking at his behavior today. Our parents had a lot to think about as well so this was going perfectly, well for me at least.


	6. Chapter 6

"How did it go with your siblings?" Eloise asked me later that evening. Dinner finished without any more drama. Eloise made her way to my room and I explained my plan to her then went to go explain it to my siblings as well.

"Alice is relieved because she felt guilty for starting it. Morgan and I still don't like each other and Bianca threw me with a book. They're all on board though." I informed her as I sat down on the chair.

"So plan 'Keep your parents occupied so that they don't find out about the party' is on track." Eloise and I laughed a bit then settled down.

"Do you want to go home or do you want to continue with the assignment?" I asked her.

"We can continue with the assignment for a while. It's still early as well."

"Just don't fall asleep." I noticed that she was extremely comfortable on my bed so she might just fall asleep.

"I won't." I was still skeptical but I hoped for the best. "What were we talking about before dinner?"

"The guy getting dumped." I reminded her.

"She's not going to dump him."

"We'll see." I liked the innocent battle that Eloise and I were having about the book we had to read for the assignment. It made it easier to understand from two different sides and made it much more fun to do. I looked at Eloise and smiled like an idiot. How could she go from a complete stranger to someone I hated to someone I liked having around?

"Idiot, why are you smiling at me like a serial killer and spacing out?" Eloise brought me back to the real world with a very confused look plastered on her face.

"Sorry about that. Just thinking how much I'm going to rub this in your face when I'm right."

"Whatever. The story is not finished yet."

"Let's finish this then."

"Looks like none of us won." I told Eloise once I finished reading a chapter. She had been suspiciously quiet for some time now so I looked at her and saw why; she was sound asleep.

"So much for not falling asleep." I whispered underneath my voice then stood up from my chair and went over to her. It was just after 9pm so I was surprised that she was sleeping. I didn't know if she was one of the 'early night early morning' kind of people or if she was just really tired.

"Hey Eloise, wake up. I'll take you home." I softly said as I shook her but I heard her give me a menacing groan.

"Leave me alone." She tiredly muttered then turned on her side with her back towards me.

"Why must girls be so troublesome?" My frustration was easily dismissed by my own tiredness. I decided to leave her to sleep in my room but I didn't think she would be comfortable sleeping in her denim jeans. I took her book off the bed and placed in on my desk before it went missing. I made my way out of my room but immediately ran into my father.

"Dad." I surprisingly said then regained my composure and I could see that he did the same for some reason. I don't think he expected me to come out of my room.

"Is Eloise still in your room?"

"Yes. She's sleeping so I'm going to let her stay the night if that's okay with you."

"That's completely okay just don't do anything reckless." I immediately knew what he was referring to so I had to stifle my laughter.

"I'm going to let her use my room and I'll take one of the guest rooms so you don't have to worry about any grandchildren from me at least." This time he joined me in my laughter but I could tell that there was something he wanted to talk about.

"If you were planning on giving me the talk about the birds and the bees then I think you're about 2 years too late."

"You've never needed that talk. Your mother and I always thought that you would be the responsible one compared to everyone else." That was weird. Our father never praised us for anything. He would always acknowledge it as something that was to be expected but he never openly praised one of us even if it wasn't exactly something I wanted to be praised for. Something was definitely up.

"I would actually say that Morgan is the most responsible. He always uses protection. He might not want to admit it but he is smarter than he makes himself out to be." If this was about what happened between Morgan and I then he would have no choice but to address the issue now.

"Morgan is definitely something else." He had a much more serious expression on his face now so this definitely was about what happened at dinner.

"I know that Morgan can say things without thinking sometimes but you know he doesn't mean to offend anyone. He just wants to keep an enjoyable and happy atmosphere even if it means that it has to be at the expense of someone else. I'm not making any excuses for what he said to Eloise and I will apologize to her myself but I don't think that fighting your brother on this would do any of you any good."

"I can tolerate him being mischievous and naughty but being disrespectful to a guest in our own house is crossing the line. Even you have to see that."

"I do and I've spoken to him about it but I can understand your anger towards him still. All I'm asking of you is to be mindful that he is still your brother no matter what. You are family so this shouldn't be enough to break the bond you guys have. There are going to be many other serious issues that the two of you will still have to face so don't let this small storm drown your relationship." Using a metaphor, my father definitely was serious about this.

"Fine. I'll talk to him about this so that we can move on but you can't expect my anger to just disappear like that." This was the only thing I could do now. I needed to give him some assurance that Morgan and I were going to be alright but still make sure that he knows that I'm angry about what happened. I was basically just securing the band aid that he was putting on it.

"That's as good as I could hope for then." His smile conveyed the relief that he was feeling and knew that the crisis was averted.

"Dad, now that you're up, can I ask you for a favor please?"

"Sure." He nervously replied.

"Could you connect the Link in the guest bedroom for me please?"

"That's no problem. Give me a couple of minutes."

"I'll go talk to Morgan then." I told him and he immediately gave me an approving nod. He made his way past me to the guest bedroom but I made my way past Morgan's room and went to Alice first.

"Can I come in?" I asked as I knocked on her door.

"Yeah." Came her reply. I entered her room then closed the door behind me. Alice's room always felt uncomfortable for me. It was too... colourful and happy. Maybe I really just was a dull person by nature.

"What's up?" Alice asked me as she laid on her bed reading a magazine. I could see that it was a travel magazine as usual, those were her favorites but I never could find out why.

"I was wondering if you could give Eloise a pants to sleep in for the night. She doesn't really look comfortable sleeping in a denim jeans." Alice was roundabout the same height as Eloise so they should share the same length of clothing.

"She's sleeping over?" Alice's tone was more accusatory than anything else so I knew she was fishing for information.

"She fell asleep while we were doing our assignment. I tried to wake her but she scared me so I thought that a female would have better luck."

"What exactly are you asking me to do?" Alice asked as she put the magazine down.

"Lend a comfortable pants to Eloise and make sure that she puts it on then get her under the blankets in my bed." I explained and I could see that she wasn't very interested so I knew I had to play the guilt card.

"Come on Alice. She's a guest here and you haven't exactly been hospitable to her today. Hell, you caused this whole thing between Morgan and I during dinner."

"Fine but you owe me." Alice gave in then got off her unnecessarily huge bed.

"I'll help you with one event at school this semester in return then." I suggested. Alice was always looking for volunteers to help out at school events and ultimately ended up begging us so I was just letting her skip the begging part this time.

"Deal." She happily agreed then went over to her drawer. I exited the room then went to Morgan's. I never knocked on his door since he was playing Creation most of the time so I opened his door and walked in but I was surprised to find him having a phone call with someone.

"I've got to go... yeah, I won't forget... okay bye." Morgan didn't exactly sound like an ass during the conversation so it was either a business call or he was talking to a girl and I'm pretty sure that he did not make any business calls so it was definitely a girl.

"Who's the girl?" I asked him as I leaned against his desk while he laid on his bed.

"Um... no one. Just a friend." He was definitely scrambling so this girl had to be someone important to him.

"Does Stephanie know?" A sudden flash of fear raced across his face before he looked away. I knew that I struck a nerve there since he had an obvious soft spot for her.

"What do you want?" He was definitely trying to change the subject so I was going to allow it. I didn't want to meddle in his relationships anyway. He might not have boundaries but I did and I tried to stay as much as I could out of any romantic relationships he might have.

"I heard dad gave you a lecture."

"What did you expect?" He didn't sound angry or even bothered by it and I wasn't sympathetic towards him either.

"They would've done it regardless of what I said. You can thank Alice for pushing it this far."

"She never does know when to keep quiet."

"The same could be said about you."

"So you came here to fight some more?"

"I came here to make dad think that we're sorting out our differences but you know the plan already."

"Yeah yeah, take one for the team and all that. This party better be worth it."

"I'm not in charge of the party. I'm in charge of protecting everything that's valuable and cleaning up afterwards. You need to make sure that this party is worth it."

"I can do that." He happily agreed. I could see him thinking about something, probably planning things for the party in his head.

"I do want to know one thing though." I told him and immediately got his attention back. "Any idea why mom and dad don't want me trying out for any contact sports?"

"Besides the idea of you landing up in hospital or worse?" He did have a point there. I was never really the sporty type as well so my sudden interest would probably alarm them.

"Look bro, I don't doubt that you're fit and healthy and in excellent shape but are you sure that you want to throw yourself in the deep end?"

"That's how you learn how to swim."

"Or drown."

"Then it's a good thing I have a brother in the deep end already to pull me out, even if it is just to tell me 'I told you so'."

"Oh you can definitely count on me to tell you that when the time comes." We shared a laugh but I knew that it was just a laugh. We still hated each other but like our father said, we can't let a small storm destroy our relationship. Who knows, there might be a hurricane around the corner.

"Any chance you wanna tell me who the girl was on the phone before I leave?" I asked him one last time.

"Not a chance." He replied with a grin on his face.

"Okay then. Night little bro." I greeted him then pushed myself off his desk and exited his room. I was about to make my way past my room when Alice stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"Operation Sleeping Beauty complete." Alice said with a triumphant smile on her face.

"That was fast." I commented it. I was probably only in Morgan's room for about 5 minutes so that definitely was faster than I expected.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job." Alice replied as she poked my chest then made her way past me.

"Night big bro."

"Night Alice." I returned her greeting then heard her enter her room and close the door behind her. I opened my room door to make sure that Alice didn't do anything else to Eloise but I saw that she was happily sleeping under the blankets on my bed. Her jeans was draped over my desk chair so everything was just how I asked Alice to do it. I closed the door then saw my father exit the guest bedroom as well.

"Everything is sorted in there for you." My father informed me.

"Everything with Morgan and I are somewhat sorted as well." I said causing him to smile.

"This reminds me of a story about me and one of my brother's as well but I'll tell you that one some other time." He said as he patted my shoulder.

"Have a good night son."

"You too dad." I replied with a smile then went our separate ways again. Everything was as it should be for now so hopefully it was smooth sailing for the rest of the week.

I woke up the next morning with a small but irritating pain in my back. The bed I was lying on was soft and comfortable but my bed was perfectly designed for me so I could feel the difference. I uncomfortably stood up and stretched, hoping to relieve some of my aching but it didn't want to go away. My frustration peaked and I could feel my mood turning sour for the rest of the day.

I made my way to my room and saw that Eloise was still sleeping although she was tossing and turning a bit too much. I ignored it and grabbed some of my things so that I could go shower me. I usually took about 5 minutes in the shower but the burning water seemed to soothe my aching back so I stayed a while longer. The bathroom steamed up when I turned the shower off and opened the door. I went over to the basin and brushed my teeth first before I dried me off as much as I could. I wrapped my towel around my waist and made my way back to my room to get me clothes to wear but I saw an all too familiar scene playing out in my bed; Eloise was having a nightmare.

"Eloise, wake up." I ordered her as I quickly rushed to her side. "Come on Eloise, just open your eyes." I began shaking her, hoping to wake her up.

This was my usual routine when my siblings and I were younger. Bianca and Morgan were plagued with nightmares and Alice didn't know what to do. Our parents left early every morning to go to work so they weren't there to help us which left me to deal with it. My methods weren't really the best but it was effective. Bianca and Morgan grew out of their nightmares, thankfully, but I still remembered how I used to deal with them.

"No." Eloise frighteningly said as she opened her eyes and sat up. I immediately put my arms around her and embraced her shaking body.

"L-Leave me alone. What is happening?" I could hear the fear in her voice and I wasn't going to let her go until I was sure that she was okay.

"You had a nightmare, that's all. It's over now." I softly told her and I could feel her body calming down a little even though her heart was frantically trying to break out of its cage.

"I'm fine." She was trying to sound confident and she definitely would've fooled most people but I could still feel her body trembling and hear the fear still lurking in her voice.

"No you're not." I replied. She didn't resist me so I was glad to see that she accepted that she needed help.

"Just let yourself be afraid for a while. I'm not going anywhere and nothing leaves this room so just let yourself be afraid here so that when we step out of the room the fear will stay here." That worked surprisingly well with Bianca so I hoped it worked with Eloise as well. I didn't know what else I could do in this situation.

Suddenly I felt Eloise wrapped her arms around my body while she rested her head against my chest. I felt her shaking slowly cease but then felt her tears running down my stomach.

"You know, people generally think that being an orphan means that you won't have any to fear since everything was already taken away from you but that's bullshit. Being an orphan and having someone take you in and raise you as their own child gives you even more to fear. It makes you even more afraid to live because somewhere in the back of your mind you know that it can all be taken away from you yet again. You have parents who love you. They might not be here with you right now but I can promise you that they are working their asses off trying to finish whatever they're doing so that they can come back to you. You will never lose them because they will always be fighting for you so you can't give up either. You may have lost this battle but the war is far from over. Don't let fear win."

"Thank you." There it was, a sincere and clear voice free from anything other than appreciation.

"You're welcome." I slowly released her and smiled at her. She looked down, trying to hide her sad face but I wasn't having any of it.

"I think this qualifies us as being friends so you don't need to hide your pain from me." I stood up then grabbed the box of tissues on my desk and handed it to her. She quickly grabbed a tissue then wiped the tears from her face.

"My family is not big on breakfast but I can try and make some for us if you want." I suggested.

"No thanks, you don't have to." I expected that kind of response from past experience. Why do people generally not want anything to eat after a nightmare? I was no exception to the rule but I still wanted to know the answer.

"Coffee it is." I said as I stood up. "Sugar? Milk?"

"Yes, 3 sugars please." She had a smile on her face and I could tell that it was a genuine one so I knew she was okay. I walked out of my room then immediately walked back in when I realized that the only thing covering my body was a towel around my waist.

"I probably should have realized that I wasn't dressed a bit earlier." I said as I opened up my cupboard and took out the first clothes and underwear I saw. I could hear Eloise release a small laugh but I ignored it then went out of my room and dressed me in the guest bedroom.

I passed my siblings' rooms as I went down the stairs and I could hear that they were all awake and probably getting ready for school. I made my way to the clean yet empty kitchen. I knew the cooks only came in the afternoon since they only had to cook dinner during the week and on the weekends they would be here by 10 the morning to cook lunch and dinner. I quietly made me some tea and Eloise some coffee as I went over all my interactions with Eloise since we met. I analyzed every situation desperately trying to figure her out but I couldn't conclusively get an answer. She was too 'unstable' to get a clear reading but I could figure out how she would react in most situations. At least she was interesting. I finished making the warm beverages so I carefully went back up to my room and found Eloise lying on top of the blankets looking up at the ceiling. I immediately saw that she was dressed in one of my baggy hoodies and my navy blue silk boxers.

"Who's clothes am I wearing and how did I get it on?" She turned her head to me with an angered look on her face while I put the cups down on my desk and sat on the chair.

"You're wearing my clothes it seems but you'll have to ask Alice why." I answered her as I had to stop myself from laughing at how she looked in my hoody. It was a little too big for me so Eloise was drowning in it. Her arms weren't anywhere near sticking out of the holes and I was pretty sure that the hoody would reach past her knees if she stood up. She reminded me of a small girl trying to fit into her parent's clothes in a cartoon.

"I asked Alice to borrow you some of her clothes last night when you fell asleep. I didn't think you would be comfortable sleeping in a jeans. Why she made you wear my clothes and how she got it on you is beyond me."

"Why didn't you just wake me up and take me home?"

"I did wake you up but you didn't warn me about the demon that came out of you at night so I decided that I wanted to stay alive and let you continue sleeping." I answered her then released a laugh as well.

"You're not funny." She threw the box off tissues at me but it made me laugh even more.

"I would've picked you up and put you in my car but I didn't know where you lived as well and I was too lazy to find out." I shrugged my shoulders while she just rolled her eyes.

"And this is your fault by the way. You're the one who fell asleep."

"I was tired." She casually replied then took her cup of coffee. She knew that by taking the cup that I wouldn't dare do anything to her that would make her spill the coffee on my bed. She was definitely clever.

"Next time I'll throw you in the pool." I threatened her.

"You have a pool?" I could hear the surprise in her voice so I immediately stood up and opened the blinds.

"It's covered right now but it's down there." I looked down at the huge backyard we had. None of us ever used it anymore unless we were having some family over and they brought their children who needed a place to play. Morgan used it some times to practice a few soccer drills and I guess I would be doing the same if I got into the soccer team.

"Damn, you guys have a huge backyard. This party on Friday is going to be awesome." I almost forgot about the party.

"That is only on Friday and we still have school today so drink up." I told Eloise. It was nearly 7am and I still needed to get her home.

"My brother is beyond angry probably so there's no rush."

"I'll talk to your brother first and try to smooth things over with him before he attacks you."

"Okay but it's your funeral."

"Here we are." Eloise said once we stopped by her house.

"Are you sure you want to go in wearing my clothes?" I asked her. She didn't want to put her clothes on again and I didn't feel like fighting her so I just went along with it. She was comfortable in it so who am I to judge?

"You want to deal with my brother so yes." She happily answered me then got out of my car. I saw a guy coming out of the house as I got out of the car as well. I was right about my hoody reaching just past her knees so it completely covered my boxer. She had her bag in one hand and her jeans in the other as she walked up the path to the house. I followed behind her hoping for the best.

"Morning big brother." Eloise greeted the older boy. He was a little smaller than me but he definitely had a lot more muscle so I was a little scared.

"Tyler, this is my friend Jared. Jared, this is my brother Tyler."

"Nice to meet you." I told him then held out my hand for a handshake. I could see his right arm flexing so I immediately braced myself for a punch. His punch had enough force to send me pummeling to the ground but I stood my ground and let the pain radiate through my body and disappear.

"You're never going to change." Eloise angrily told him then stormed off inside the house.

"So much for a friendly conversation." I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"What do you want?" He crossed his arms over his chest and I could hear a hint of anger in his voice.

"I wanted to explain why Eloise didn't come home last night and I thought that we could meet. I'm Eloise's partner for our English assignment and she's friends with my friend so I thought that it was best if you met me now and not have to ask Eloise about me all the time." I answered him but his expression didn't change. He was taking this overprotective brother role a bit too far.

"Speak then."

"Eloise fell asleep last night and I didn't know where she lived so I let her use my bedroom. I asked my sister to get Eloise some comfortable clothes to wear since she was in a jeans and that's how she ended up in the clothes that she is wearing right now. She's a little too comfortable in it if you ask me." I tried to lighten the mood with my that last part but his expression still didn't change.

"Is that all?" His attitude was really starting to annoy me now.

"Your sister had a nightmare this morning. She was shaken up but I managed to calm her down. I just thought you should know. It was nice meeting you." I turned around and decided to leave rather. Her brother wasn't the most welcoming but I could understand him wanting to protect his sister. Punching me might have taken it a little too far and his attitude didn't help either but I understood.


	7. Chapter 7

"Wow, it's worse than I heard." Stephanie told me. I was sitting by a table in the school's cafeteria having breakfast, a very sweet fruit salad. She took the seat next to mine and I immediately handed her a plastic spoon since I knew that she was going to 'help' me finish my breakfast even though I didn't need any. For some reason she was always hungry but never got fat. Hell, she was probably as thin as me but she always said that she was average weight.

"I literally only got to school 7 minutes ago and only about 4 people probably saw me so how could you have possibly heard about the new edition to my face already?" Tyler's punch seemed to have become a little worse against my cheek. It didn't hurt me anymore but it irritatingly stood out and was probably a little swollen as well by now.

"I have more friends than you think." She picked up a piece of fruit with her spoon then turned my head so that she could look at my injury with the other.

"What happened?"

"Eloise's brother didn't like the fact that she slept over." I casually answered her while she released my face but she nearly choked once I was finished speaking.

"Eloise as in the girl you met yesterday and hated?" Stephanie didn't even try to hide her amusement as she spoke. "How the hell did that happen? Please don't leave out any details."

"There's no details. We worked on our assignment, she had dinner with my family, we went back to working on our assignment then she fell asleep in my bed." I left out the drama and the nightmare part because it wasn't really relevant right now.

"What did your parents say about this?"

"My dad just told me to 'be responsible' and my mom loves Eloise more than she probably loves me so I think they're okay with it."

"I'm definitely loving Eloise more and more." Stephanie's laughter could only mean that she was enjoying my misery but I surprisingly wasn't miserable anymore. Eloise has changed my mind about herself. Obviously I didn't like that the nature of their conversations so far seemed to circle around criticizing me but I was sure that they would find something else to talk about soon enough.

"Anyway, I need the smart Jared to tell me what he really thinks about Eloise after analyzing her so let him out for a while."

"It's not like there is a different person living inside me you know." She always did this when she wanted to know how to deal with someone. Apparently she trusted my judgement about other people but that was no surprise since her judgement could use with a massive upgrade.

"This stupid facade you put on makes it seem like there are two different people." We both knew she was right so there was no point in arguing it any further.

"Fine. Eloise is extremely intelligent and sneaky but all she really wants to be is a normal teenage girl. I don't know what is stopping her from doing so but I'm guessing that it has something to do with her parents being away all the time. She doesn't really have a productive relationship with her brother from what I saw so that's why she has to count on herself and why she thinks she has to be intelligent and sneaky. Her interaction with my family seems to reveal that she wants a strong and stable connection with someone she can trust that isn't part of her family which I am guessing is going to be you. She definitely has a sadness she is trying her best to keep away but she can't do it alone anymore which is why she is trying to reach out in her own way. All in all, she needs us more than we need her and more than she is letting on." I surprised myself there. I didn't think I was able to profile her but I did it easily without thinking twice.

"I knew she was damaged." Stephanie triumphantly stated.

"We're all damaged. Some just hide it better than others." Okay, this smart side of me was creeping me out a bit if I'm being honest.

"I know. Put smart Jared back in his cage before he says other smart things that I don't need to hear."

"Why are we even friends?" I asked her as I sighed then took a piece of fruit.

"You know you love me." She had a huge idiotic smile on her face that seemed to infect my face as well but I didn't mind. I needed someone to make me smile even if I didn't want to.

"Looks like I'm not the only idiot here."

"Oh, you definitely are. Don't fool yourself." I lightly shoved her as we laughed. "I assume by the fruit salad that you're trying out for the soccer team after school."

"Yep. My parents don't want me to do any sports because they're afraid that I'll get hurt."

"I think that bruise on your face proves that you don't need sports for you to hurt yourself." I let out a reluctant chuckle at that. She did have a point though. I was beyond clumsy and always found someway of hurting me.

"They can't stop me though. I'm going to get hurt either way so at least this way I know where and when I'm going to get hurt so I'll be prepared."

"I'm pretty sure they would ban you from doing anything if you told them that."

"I'm inclined to agree with you there." I had to join in her laughter. It was probably wrong to laugh at that but we didn't care. Talking about a serious subject often needed a stupid reason to relieve the tense atmosphere that was created and that's what this basically was. I knew that Stephanie was also worried about me playing sports but I was worried about her every time she had a match as well. I just had to learn to accept that it was something she was passionate about and support her as much as I could.

"So what do you guys think of the new update?" Eloise asked us during the break. We found ourselves sitting by the same windowsill we sat by yesterday with me sitting on a chair next to them since there wasn't a lot of space. We each bought our own lunches since none of us could agree on something we all wanted (I wanted something healthy to eat and they didn't).

"I'm glad that they decided to let us get 25% of our stats back if we died. I would've preferred the full 100% but it's better than nothing." Stephanie gladly stated. That was a silver lining that everyone wanted. They needed a sense of security when they fought so knowing that you won't lose all your progress was a bittersweet reward.

"Bigger map, that's pretty cool." I wasn't as energetic as they were but at least I was still contributing to the conversation. I saw that vast amounts of new lands were added to the already existing map which meant more legendary creatures to battle and more rewards to receive.

"The map changes all the time so having a bigger one is irritating. Look at the new leader board thing that they created. It says that 8 out of the 10 rings have been found already which means that 2 rings are still lost in the ever confusing map. Why can't they just leave the map as it is?" I knew that many players were just as upset and probably even more upset about that than Eloise was but at least she made a valid point. The rings were difficult to find as it was and with a whole new bigger map, it was seeming virtually impossible to find the last 2 rings.

"They did give us clues to where the last 2 rings were and who has the other 8." I wasn't particularly interested in finding the last 2 rings but I was concerned with protecting the ring that I had.

"The one clue reads: Beware the peaks of two great giants, protect your soul, heart and mind. A battle of legend for the brave, a reward a ring you shall find." Eloise's frustration was evident. Stephanie and I knew that she was a massive Creation fan and probably a serious player so trying to get those other 2 rings was definitely on her list of priorities.

"4 out of 10 for the poetry but 7 out of 10 for getting it to rhyme at the end." I stupidly replied but I could see that both of them were smiling.

"Come on Jared, you're good with words so you should be able to figure out the clue easily." Stephanie had a challenging look on her face then moved her eyes to Eloise quickly before turning her attention back to me. I knew what she meant and I knew that she wasn't going to back down until I helped them.

"Yeah, your mother did say that English was your forte so please help us." Eloise added. Her expression was definitely a pleading cry for help but I needed to know a few things first.

"We're not even in the same guild so helping you would kind of be counterproductive." That was true. Helping someone from another guild in the competition instead of helping your own was traitorous to say the least.

"Actually, Eloise joined our guild this morning and guess what she brought as a gift?" Stephanie had a wry smile on her face as the two girls looked at each other and laughed.

"A ring?" I asked.

"Damn right. Had to kill a few players for it but it was worth it." She had a proud smile on her face.

"Yep, Lady Edrea was welcomed into the group this morning so now our total ring count is at 3." Stephanie and Eloise high fived each other. They were definitely proud of their achievement. They were in my guild so I should've been just as proud but I didn't really care.

"So you were the girl that I met on Sunday night." I confirmed as I looked at Eloise. It made perfect sense now. She was a complete player all round.

"Did you buy my damsel in distress act?" Eloise asked me but I could hear that she was testing me.

"I did but once you came in then you were definitely threatening." I replied. "Welcome to the guild though."

"Great to be there. How did you guys get your rings by the way." It's not that I didn't trust Eloise and she was even in our guild now but something still felt off about her questions now.

"We got one ring by defeating a monster in the Cave of Despair. Jared stole the other one from a group of players." Stephanie confidently answered.

"You really are a thief." Eloise eyed me with a smirk.

"At least I didn't have to murder players to get it. Aren't you supposed to be a noble knight?" This time I was challenging her.

"Touché." At least she knew when she was defeated.

"If you two are finished with whatever this is, can we get back to figuring out the clue?" Stephanie looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow so I knew she was reading into this more than she needed to.

"The first line is either referring to 2 mountains or 2 legendary creatures. Probably 2 legendary creatures since it ties in with the third line. The second line is saying that the creatures can attack your soul, body and mind which means that the two creatures can probably perform spells that will mess with our senses and confuse us. Definitely sounds too troublesome for me." I explained.

"You're a genius. If it's two legendary creatures then that means that it should be a quest." Eloise quickly took out her phone and probably began going through the list of quests.

"They literally added over 20 million new quests with the new update so are you really going to look through all those quests?" Stephanie asked her. I also wanted to know the answer to that. Eloise was a serious player but even she wasn't stupid enough to be going through each quest to try and find the one that matched my theory.

"I'm not stupid. If we could figure this out then so could other players. Jared said something about 2 mountains as well so I'm checking to see if there was an increase in mountain quests and which mountains to be exact. I have contacts so this should only take a few minutes." Eloise explained.

"It's not like we have our links here so we can't do anything about it now." Stephanie stated.

"I know but these are 2 legendary creatures who are protecting a ring so they won't be taken down easily. I just need a location then we can go check it out tonight." Eloise was entranced by her phone as she spoke but she made sense. It didn't sound like an easy challenge so I definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

"I have dinner at 7 so if we can make this at about 8 tonight then I'll be there." I pointed out.

"Can't you skip dinner with your family tonight?" Eloise innocently asked me.

"Only if he wants to skip straight to his death." Stephanie answered her causing the two of them to laugh.

"I'm beginning to question why I hang out with you girls." I told them but their laughter continued. I saw one of Morgan's friends entering the cafeteria and I immediately hoped that Morgan and the rest of his merry men didn't follow. I was glad to see that he was alone but I didn't like the fact that he was coming over to us.

"What's Zach coming to us for?" Zach, I knew Stephanie would remember his name. I had the worst memory, period, so remembering names was out of the question for me but I was surprisingly good with faces and connecting them to people who's names I actually remembered.

"Maybe he's coming to declare his undying love for you." I answered her. Eloise and I had a bit of a laugh at that but Stephanie just rolled her eyes.

"Hey guys. Just so you know, Morgan and Tyler are fighting." Zach informed us.

"Morgan and Tyler as in their brothers?" Stephanie asked but I already knew the answer. Morgan was probably trying to get revenge for Tyler hitting me this morning. Just because I don't fight, why does everyone else take it upon themselves to fight my battles for me?

"Yeah. They were by the boy's locker room." Zach informed us.

"Let's just go sort this out before anyone gets in trouble." Stephanie told us.

"You girls can go sort that out. I already had my fair share of trouble for the day." I didn't want to get in the middle of any of this anymore. Tyler doesn't like me and he had a valid reason not to so the more I stayed out of his way, the better it was for both of us.

"Morgan is your brother for crying out loud." I knew that Stephanie was always trying to get Morgan and I to have a closer relationship with each other since we were brothers but Morgan and I were happy with the way things were between us. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I was about to say something but Stephanie stared me down. There was no arguing with her when she was in this kind of mood.

"Fine but just know that when things go wrong, I wanted nothing to do with this whole situation." I told them then stood up.

"What can go wrong? We're only going to talk to those idiots." Eloise asked an innocent question but my mind raced with the possibility of answers that I knew she didn't want to hear.

"Bianca is on the Student Disciplinary Committee so do you think that Morgan will try to bribe her to get out of trouble?" That was a good question. Bianca believed in fairness for everyone so I doubt that she would be lenient on Morgan just because they are family.

"I don't think so." I put my hands in my pockets as we made our way down the hallways. I was just going along with the girls because I didn't want to argue with Stephanie so I was just planning on relaxing and enjoy watching whatever was happening.

"Wait, so Alice is on the Student Council and Bianca is on the Disciplinary Committee. Your sisters kinda rule the school." Eloise commented.

"Alice does that all by herself. Bianca is just there to keep these guys out of trouble." Stephanie wasn't wrong there. Bianca did manage to reduce Morgan's punishment on a few occasions but his actions still had consequences.

"Why aren't you popular then?" Eloise asked me. She looked at me with a quizzical expression, probably trying to figure out the answer on her own.

"I mean, both your sisters are in a position of power here at school and your brother is one of the stars on the soccer team so you should be more popular." Her logic wasn't wrong but logic hardly ever applied to the things I did.

"I don't want to be popular. I only need you girls and that's as far as my social life needs to extend." I truthfully answered her.

"He has never been much of a social person. His parents did say that the only reason they adopted him was because of his ability to solve problems." My mother told Stephanie that over dinner one night but I thought she was just trying to be friendly and keep a light hearted conversation going. Turns out that there was a truth to it.

"You make it sound like I'm an expert." I didn't really like being praised in any kind of way. It just made me feel awkward.

"You did help us solve the clue to the other ring earlier. You might not be an expert but you can't deny that you're good at it." Eloise praised me, that was weird and even more awkward for me.

"We still don't know if I am right." I pointed out as we exited the building. I saw a crowd standing outside the boy's locker room so I guessed that Morgan and Tyler were there. There wasn't a lot of noise coming from the crowd so it didn't seem like they were physically fighting yet.

"Looks like we made it just in time." Stephanie concluded. We made our way closer and then began making our way through the crowd. I began hearing what they were talking about.

"You're just a bully." Morgan told him. At least Morgan was using his words for now. I knew that it didn't take much for Morgan to start throwing punches so I was glad to see that he was trying to change his ways a little.

"You're just a bodyguard for your scared little brother." Tyler didn't sound too angry but I could sense the amount of aggression he was holding in him getting ready to explode at any moment.

"You two need to calm down. Why does everything have to end in a fight with guys?" That was one way for Stephanie to make an entrance. We finally made our way past the crowd and found ourselves in between Morgan and Tyler. I decided to stand at the edge of the crowd with my hands still in my pockets since I wasn't planning on getting involved.

"What are you doing Tyler?" Eloise stood in front of her brother with a rather furious look on her face. It was kind of cute how confident she was standing up to her brother even with her lack of height and her brother's muscled build.

"This doesn't involve you Eloise. Get out of here." I couldn't agree more with Tyler. Rather he go down than both of them getting into trouble.

"You're my brother, of course this involves me." I didn't understand Eloise's logic there but she was stubborn.

"Maybe you should take your own advice and get out of here as well Tyler." That was typical Morgan. He was definitely looking for a fight now. Maybe it was because Stephanie was here. He probably wanted to try and impress her by taking Tyler down.

"Shut up Morgan." Stephanie clearly didn't feel the same way.

"You know what. You and your brother are dead." Wait what? What did I do? Hell, I didn't even move or say a word.

"Bring it on." Morgan baited him. Tyler easily made his way past Eloise but I could see Stephanie stopping Morgan from going to fight him. I turned to look at Tyler again but all I saw was his frightening fist being launched at me and in an instant I found myself falling then everything seemed to drown out into nothingness.

I woke up to an unrelenting headache trying to murder my brain while an irritating pain on my left cheek accompanied it. My whole head just seemed to want to explode then I remembered what happened. Damn, Tyler just didn't know when to quit and neither did Morgan for that matter. My anger began to rise but was quickly silenced by the pain I was feeling.

"Looks like you finally woke up." A female voice said. I looked around and pieced together that I was probably in the nurse's office. I wasn't exactly a regular here but I've been in here at least once every semester but usually it's for minor things.

"How are you feeling?" The nurse asked me.

"Irritating pain and headache." I informed her as the nurse finally came into view. It was Mrs. Plover, the senior nurse.

"That tends to happen when you end up as the losing party in a fight." I let out a small laugh as she went over to one of the cupboards.

"What's so funny?"

"I told myself that I wasn't going to get involved but even if you stand still and say nothing then apparently you're still a target for an attack."

"From what I heard, someone said that he was going to beat up a boy named Tyler because he hurt you already." She handed me two tablets then a plastic cup filled with water as I sat up.

"I'm guessing that's how you got the first bruise."

"Yeah. Tyler punched me this morning which I totally understood but this new edition to my face was uncalled for." I handed the empty plastic cup once I swallowed the tablets and drained the water down my throat. I was used to taking tablets so this was a normal procedure for me.

"What did you do? Sleep with his sister or something?"

"His sister spent the night in my bed. I took the guest bedroom but he was a little upset that she slept over. That's why I understood the first punch."

"It's always about a girl when it comes to guys fighting." I had to join in her laughter. It was true for a lot of cases and apparently true for my case as well. I guess I just needed to stay away from Eloise and then I can continue living my uneventful life.

"Am I cleared to go to class?" I asked as I looked at the clock on the wall. There was 20 minutes until the next period so I was hoping to go get something to replenish my energy in the cafeteria before the period started.

"The principal wants to see you first before you go anywhere else." There can only be one reason why and I really wasn't looking forward to it.

"How much do you want to bet that I'm going to get punished for standing in a crowd and getting punched?" I asked as I stood up and stretched. My head was still paining and I could feel that I needed more rest but if I was going to get punished then I'd rather do it while I was already in pain.

"Good luck." Mrs. Plover told me with a smile before she went to go sit down behind a wooden desk. I unsteadily made my way to the door and got my bearings. I began my journey to the dreadful principal's office but I wasn't exactly afraid or nervous. I knew what to expect so all I had to do was get through it.

"Come in." Came the response once I knocked on the door. A sound that was a little too loud for me but I kept telling myself that I just had to get through this.

"You wanted to see me Principal Gaphney." I stated once I was inside the room. I saw Tyler sitting on the leather couch against the wall with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed. He was clearly in a bad mood but shouldn't I be the one that should be in a bad mood and not him?

"Yes, please have a seat." the older man instructed me. I gratefully took a seat opposite his desk just thankful that I didn't have to stand anymore.

"You too Mr Davis." I heard Tyler stand up with a grunt but he made his way to the seat next to mine and sat down.

"Sir, before you start, I just want to say that I understand Tyler's actions. I don't like what he did but it's understandable." I quickly told the principal. It's not that I was afraid of going up against him but there was no point in continuing this with a verbal battle. If we were going to get punished then at least I can play on our principal's sympathy and hope that he shows some leniency towards us. We were in this together now whether we liked it or not.

"Very well. You are here because you broke the code of conduct by fighting. This cannot go unpunished and I will not let it go unpunished as well. Both of you know the rules of this school and both of you accepted and agreed to follow them. Because of your disobedience, both of you are suspended immediately. We will hold a disciplinary meeting on Thursday at 10am so until then, both of you are not allowed onto the school premises."

"Excuse me Mr Gaphney, the school requires that students partake in one school extracurricular activity every semester and I was planning on trying out for the school's soccer team this semester. The tryouts are happening after school today so may I attend it?" I asked him.

"If you can't abide by the school's code of conduct then what makes you think that I would allow you to get the chance to join one of the school's proudest teams?" I wanted to so badly to answer him but I knew that whatever I said now would just end badly for me. This time my anger rose and overpowered my pain. I wanted to try out for the soccer team even though I was probably not going to make the team but having that opportunity taken away from you because of something that someone else did to you was unfair and frustrating to say the least.

"You're dismissed. I'll see the two of you at the meeting on Thursday morning at 10."

"Yes sir." I wanted to say more than just an obedient 'Yes sir' but I knew that my anger wasn't directed at him but rather at the boy sitting beside me. I stood up then calmly stepped outside while everything else inside me felt like exploding with anger.

"Hey Jared, stay the hell away from my sister." Tyler told me as I started walking away from him down the hall.

"I'm suspended so tell her to stay the hell away from me." I replied then continued on my way. Angry wasn't anywhere near to describing what I felt. It felt like a burning rage inside me trying to escape and destroy whatever was in my path. No amount of pain even bothered me right now.

I thankfully got to my car with no one stopping me and asking me what happened because I was pretty sure that the next person I saw was going to get an undeserving earful. I took a few deep breaths before I started my car. I wanted to calm down a little so that I could at least make it home in one piece. It didn't take very long for me to get home since it was nearly noon and there wasn't a lot of traffic. I parked my car then made my way up to my room. I knew the perfect way to relieve my anger while not wasting that energy. I was going to punch the hell out of the punching bag that my father set up in the unusually huge pool house in the backyard. It was more of a man cave than anything though so it probably shouldn't be called a pool house but we did. I dressed me in a black shorts and sleeveless top then made my way to the pool house.

I decided to use the kitchen door to go to the backyard rather than walking around the house. There was surprisingly only one way to get to the backyard without having to walk around the house and that was the kitchen. I greeted the cooks then took a ice cold bottle of water before making my way to the pool house. I knew how to throw a punch properly without hurting myself very much so I wasn't afraid of that but I was afraid of how long it was going to take before my anger died down. I had about 3-4 hours before my siblings were supposed to come home so that was a start. At least I wasn't taking out my anger on a person. Apologizing to that person would've been way too much work. I launched my first punch and instantly got immersed in the activity.

"Jared!" I was so focused on punching and kicking the large punching bag in front of me that I almost didn't hear the voice. I stopped and breathlessly looked around the room then saw Stephanie and Eloise standing by the entrance. Definitely 2 people that I didn't want to see right now. I didn't want to see anyone for that matter.

"What are you girls doing here?" I was definitely out of breath but I could get my question across. I turned to my bottle of water then remembered that I had drained it already.

"Trying to stop you from killing yourself for one." Stephanie said then came over to me.

"Apparently just standing in a crowd gets me knocked out so maybe try a little harder." I resumed my previous activity and began hitting the punching bag again. I had kickboxing gloves on but I could feel that my hands were aching already. I started off with just plain punching then I put on some boxing gloves and started hitting the punching bag with those but now I was on to the kickboxing gloves which also allowed me to kick the punching began.

The girls were oddly quiet for some reason. Stephanie never kept quiet if she wanted to calm me down and stop me from doing something so either she was upset with me or she was just at a loss for words. I could still see that both Stephanie and Eloise were still in the room and staring at each other. They were probably trying to have a silent conversation. Stephanie and I could read each other easily so it was no problem for us but this was only their 2nd day together so I doubted that they understood each other that well already. I didn't really care though. All I wanted to do was to keep hitting the punching bag in front of me until my fingers felt broken then continue hitting it.

Suddenly Eloise popped up in front of me as I launched a punch. I immediately redirected my fist and ended up missing the punching bag completely. My momentum carried me forward so I immediately used my free hand and put it behind Eloise so that she didn't fall as I involuntarily raced a couple of steps towards her.

"Thanks." Eloise had a nervous smile on her face. I couldn't tell why she was nervous though. I hoped it wasn't because she was afraid of me.

"Are you crazy? I could've hurt you." I surprisingly wasn't angry at her for jumping in front of me but I was a little upset that she did. I felt more relieved than anything; relieved that I managed to redirect my fist in time and that she wasn't hurt.

"You wouldn't have." This time her confidence returned. I was really having a hard time trying to figure out her strategy here. She's nervous one moment then confident the next. She was quiet then suddenly did something crazy. She was impossible to figure out.

"How could you have possibly known that?" My tone was definitely accusing her of lying but I honestly wanted to know her reason.

"Because of this morning." This time it was my turn to be lost for words. I didn't expect her to bring up her nightmare so easily so I was dumbstruck.

"You helped me when I didn't know I needed it so now I'm going to do the same for you."

"I don't need help." I replied. Eloise reached out and suddenly embraced me. I was full of sweat so I didn't think that anyone would want to be near me let alone touch me yet here she was hugging me. Her shorter arms wrapped around my body but managed to connect behind my back while she placed her head against my chest. I turned to Stephanie for help but she looked at me with one eyebrow raised which could only mean that I was in trouble, probably for leaving out the part where I helped Eloise cope with her nightmare.

"I'm not letting go until all this anger you have is out of your body."

"Good luck. You might get a little hurt if you move your head so keep it firmly planted in the center of my chest." I instructed her as I got into a stance that allowed for Eloise to continue holding on to me.

"What are you... stop... seriously? " Eloise's tone went from surprised to frustrated as she looked at me with anger in her eyes this time. I continued hitting the punching bag but I felt her release me for a second then put her arms around mine as she hugged me again. I didn't expect her grip to be so strong but she definitely had her arms firmly locked around me with no option but for me to succumb to her demands.

"You shouldn't be here." I told her then let out a long tiring breath as I finally allowed my body to begin relaxing.

"My brother doesn't get to tell me who I can and cannot be friends with. He can go shove that up his ass." Eloise was clearly stubborn as well as headstrong. A lot like Stephanie in that regard but at least Eloise had control over her emotions where Stephanie would let her emotions control her.

"Or just punch me in my face again."

"If he so much as looks at you wrong then he can find another place to sleep." Eloise looked up at me again so I could see how determined she looked as she said those words. She gave me a brief smile and I immediately used that opportunity to break out of her embrace knowing that her guard was down. I took a step back but she quickly grabbed my hands trying her best to hold onto some part of me. As soon as she grabbed my hands, a huge wave of pain came flooding from my hands and up my arms to the rest of my body.

"Fuck." I agonizingly said as I tried to get used to the pain. Eloise let go of my hands but it was no help. Both of my hands felt like they were being driven over by a truck every time I tried to move my fingers.

"Looks like you're in pain." Stephanie told bluntly told me.

"You think?" I replied as I tried to stare down Stephanie but my pain got the better of me.

"Rather pain than anger." Eloise tried to see the positive but Stephanie and I weren't in any kind of mood for a silver lining right now.

"This pain is making me more angry." I told her but she had an irritating smile playing on her lips.

"Then healing you will give us a chance to calm you down so let's go." This time Eloise wrapped her arm around mine as she pulled me. I was in too much pain to fight her right now so I just decided to go with the flow.


End file.
